Untitled 1995

Zdzislaw Beksinski made this untitled painting with oils on canvas at an unknown date. The painting has these dusty mauves and browns, a somber, almost gothic palette. It feels like the colors were mixed from mud, evoking something really earthy and bodily. Looking at the surface, you can see the way the paint is built up, scratchy and uneven, especially around the central structure. It looks like the paint was applied and then maybe scraped or rubbed back, creating this textural, almost decaying effect. The way the paint handles light is really striking. There’s this glow, almost an apparition, that you see peeking out from behind the form, like a secret. It's not just about what's depicted, but about the process of painting itself, the struggle to bring something into being. This kind of work reminds me of Goya; the same dark romanticism, the same interest in the macabre. There is no single answer; it's all about feeling your way through the dark.