AA70

The painting titled AA70 is one of the creations that herald a new chapter in the work of the Polish artist, Zdzisław Beksiński, which you may know from our past features. (Please check our Archive!)  After a period of experiments with artistic photography, avant-garde art, drawings, and the human figure, Beksiński focused on paintings that can be described as belonging to the genre of fantastic realism. This phase lasted for more than a decade, spanning the period between the early 1970s and mid-1980s.

Beksiński utilized a clear, easily recognizable oneiric-visionary form that bore no direct relation to reality and was purely a product of his unlimited imagination.

The painting portrays unreal specter-like figures waiting by the wall of a building for their turn. As they move towards the entrance, they vanish into nothingness. In the windows of the building, we can see fire or a similar light source. Faces of the depicted figures, especially their eyes, convey the feeling of an utter terror and debilitating fear of the Unknown, something that can't be avoided and what is about to happen any moment now. Waiting for the unknown is closely linked to the motif of a closed door, a synonym of a passage to another reality. Elements associated with death and fear of the inevitable and the irreconcilable are consistently present in Beksiński's work, provoking questions about the meaning of the depicted scenes. The author himself eschewed any explanations, however, and also avoided titling his works.

We share today's painting and story thanks to the Historical Museum in Sanok.  :)

Beksinski is sometimes called the contemporary Bosch. Well, they both shared the boundless imagination, that's for sure. We don't have Beksiński among our offer of DailyArt Prints yet but we do have Bosch. Please check our fine art prints of artists here; you won't be disappointed.  :)

P.S. Here you can read more about Beksiński's approach to music and art!