Hmmmm

Death of an obscurist

Zdzislaw Beksinski, born on the 24th of February 1929. Polish surrealist painter known for his images of death, was best known for his abstract renditions of skeletons, monster-like creatures and other apocalyptic images evoking death and decay. He was a contemporary master.

Beksinski studied architecture at the Cracow University of Technology. His themes spanned many mediums such as painting, sculpting, photography and drawing. Known to like working to the strains of classical music, he loved to create intricately detailed pieces of surreal art. His work came to the forefront in the 1970s and 1980s

He was murdered at age 75, stabbed to death at his Warsaw home. Three days later, police charged two teenagers with the slaying. One suspect, the son of Beksinski's friend and aide, confessed to killing the painter. It appeared he had been killed refusing to give the youths a painting he had created.

"We all see death before our eyes, I am not an exception." he said at the opening of an exhibition of his work. "Personally, I am more afraid of dying than death itself. This is not a fear of emptiness but of suffering - and this is what I am most afraid of”

Beksinski studied architecture in Krakow before throwing himself into painting, photography and drawings. His works hang in the National Museum in Wroclaw, the National Museum in Warsaw and in a dedicated museum in Sanok

Though Beksinski depicted foreboding, dark images, he always resisted attempts to analyse their meaning. "It misses the point to ask me what my paintings mean," he once said. "Simply, I do not know myself. Moreover, I am not at all interested in knowing."

Beksinski had burned several of his paintings because they failed to meet his exacting standards or were "too personal."

His wife, Zofia, died in 1998. A year later, on Christmas Eve, his on Tomasz committed suicide after suffering from clinical depression.

posted by Dave @ 10:28 PM