Draft:AA72

Zdzisław Beksiński, 2000

AA72, an oil painting on hardwood, was created by Polish artist Zdzisław Beksiński in 1972. Currently housed at the Historical Museum in Sanok, it is considered one of Beksiński’s most iconic and influential paintings. As a pioneer of dystopian surrealism, Beksiński's work is known to be evocative, grim, and other-worldly. The painting AA72 is part of Beksiński’s fantastic period, created in Poland like the rest of his artwork. The artist famously remained silent about the meaning behind his artworks, but AA72 is speculated to have been inspired by Artur Grottger, Paul Klee, and other artists.

Scholars attribute Beksiński with pioneering surrealism in Polish art. Like “AA72,” many of his works from the 70s incorporated themes of death, the grotesque, and the sublime. Critical interpretations of AA72 align with many analyses of Beksiński's broader fantastic period. Psychologists have examined AA72 when analyzing surrealist paintings as manifestations of subconscious thinking related to early childhood experiences.

Before his death in 2005, Beksiński created a body of artwork like AA72 that remains influential in the arts to this day.

Zdzisław Beksiński, 2003

Background

Beksiński's experience living in Poland during the aftermath of World War II is said to have influenced the art he created, incorporating themes of destruction and conflict across his works. His self-proclaimed fantastic period spanned the 1970s to the 1990s, during which he created hundreds of surrealist paintings. Art critics have universally described his works as uniquely unsettling, grim, and mystical. They are known to be grotesque, which according to the artist was partly inspired by the old paintings in his church, home, and other places during his childhood. These pieces were dark from aging and poor upkeep, making them generally difficult to interpret. Beksiński's surrealist paintings are similarly categorized by their ambiguity and darkness.

The artist's background as an architect informed his design ability. His art frequently incorporated physical structures and buildings that were influenced by his architectural work. Beyond his famous oil paintings, Beksinski enjoyed sculpture and photography throughout his career. He intentionally limited his commentary on the inspiration and meaning behind his artwork, which has prompted scholars and psychologists to analyze his most popular paintings for hidden meanings.

Description

AA72 is a 100x73cm oil painting on hardboard. The Historical Museum in Sanok, which houses the world’s largest collection of Beksinski pieces, describes it as having an unusual aura and metaphysical atmosphere. The color palette of the painting is dark, with warm shades of brown. Beksinski's paintings from the fantastic period, like AA72, were known for their monotone coloring and general darkness.

In the painting, a human figure navigates a dimly lit canyon. Two lines of massive monk-like figures constitute the canyon’s walls. The skeleton-like figures vary in position. One holds its hands together, as if in prayer. Another holds a pendant out over the human figure. Birds fly near the monks’ heads, and the human subject is visually and physically overpowered by the hooded figures.

Interpretations

Beksiński's fantastic period is considered one of his most iconic eras of art creation. Since he purposefully refrained from explaining the motivations behind his paintings, psychologists have connected his limited commentary to his artistic choices, analyzing the art in the context of the subconscious. One psychologist's interpretation refers to AA72 as symbolic of his fantastic period, reflecting Beksinski's own feelings toward his early childhood experiences and subconscious thinking. Recurring themes during his fantastic period include death, biblical allusion, and despair. Beksiński often compared the level of detail in his artwork to attempting to "photograph dreams."

According to Beksiński, David's Psalm inspired him at several points in his journey as an artist. The verse references walking through a valley in darkness, which is clearly pictured in AA72. For this reason, art historians have speculated that the painting contains religious undertones. Frequently analyzed is the scale at which Beksiński depicts human figures in contrast to their environment. The concept of the sublime, which relates to invoking an overwhelming, sometimes fear-inducing awareness of the magnitude of nature, has long been examined in Beksiński's art. In AA72, the contrast between the minute human and towering skeletal figures embodies the sublime, prompting viewers to consider the relative insignificance of human existence in relation to nature.

While first impressions of Beksiński's work insinuate that the artist embodied the solemn themes of his artwork, he was known in real life to be an optimistic, lighthearted individual. This has been incorporated in analysis of Beksiński's work, comparing motifs found in his art to his real-life behavior.

Legacy

Beksiński's paintings now mostly reside in the Museum of Sanok in Poland. AA72, among hundreds of other works by Beksiński, remains celebrated for its impact on surrealist art and dystopian media. Beksiński's life story was featured in a documentary called The Last Family, and his contributions to the art community were honored by an installation at Burning Man. Beksiński remains one of Poland's most influential artists.