Zdzislaw Beksinski - Truly a “Nightmare Artist“?

Polish painter Zdzislaw Beksinski is known for styles of dystopian realism, surrealism, and fantastic abstraction. His paintings are vivid, detailed, and emotionally striking. Naturally, this has led to great appreciation for Beksinski’s works as horror. Additionally, he has been given nicknames such as the “Nightmare Artist“ While the surrealism and dark atmospheres of his works do a great job of conveying a sense of horror, apocalypse, fear, and existential dread, I believe it’s limited to view Beksinski’s work through only this lens. I believe there is a much wider range of emotion and expression to see from these works, and I hope I can convince you of the same.