Know the Artist: Zdzisław Beksiński

Zdzisław Beksiński’s (b. Poland, 1929-2005) dystopian scenery crawls with menacing creatures and star-crossed souls. The visionary Polish artist raised an epic universe of hellscapes before meeting an untimely end as macabre as his work. This is Several Circles, where we tell the stories of extraordinary artists from across history and the present day. We believe art history content should be accessible—free of charge and impenetrable jargon, but abundant in fascinating facts, illuminating analyses, and entertaining anecdotes. Each episode is written and hosted by Rachel, an art journalist-turned-copywriter at The Met, and produced by Jason, a New York City art technician. The fuzzy feline superstars are Jimmy (big and bushy) and Tallulah (small with thumbs). We started this channel to indulge our fascination with what compels an artist to create the way they do, and we intend to grow it into a vast and celebratory archive of the weird and wonderful eccentrics who constitute th