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Let us take you on a journey through the curious drawing ideas of a Polish artist, Zdzisław Beksiński, who made a name for himself with his dystopian surrealism paintings, filled with post-apocalyptic imagery and creatures that come straight out of nightmares.
The artist is no longer with us to better explain the vast roster of over 300 of his scary drawings, but he used to say: "I wish to paint in such a manner as if I were photographing dreams. And that is exactly what popped into my head when I first saw his creepy pictures. Even though they utilize recognizable everyday objects, those are paired and arranged in ways only the dream world could sustain in a single image.
These unseen combinations gave birth to mind-bending scenarios, building an anxious feeling while looking at them. The cool drawings are beautifully abstract, yet they have the power to invoke real-world references, making them even creepier. The artist's explanation? Well, it may lie in these cryptic words: "What matters is what appears in your soul, not what your eyes see and what you can name."
Now scroll down for a dose of scary monsters and demon drawings below.
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#1
Monika Kawulicz 8 years ago
I recommend you to change the name of the whole post, because it's not just SOME Polish painter, but the one true master Beksiński and i'm really upset that you added his paintings to this page alongside with some amateurs...
Edyta Złotucha 8 years ago
Couldn't agree more! He deserves to be introduced with His full name, no doubt
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Art Animal 8 years ago
And that was when Sirius realized... Death had been following him for a while :(
Glitchy Sage 5 years ago
Old age, and even though you may have had power or possess it, it will take you.
Janine Wilson 8 years ago
Checking out all these images I am not sure if they are dream related or just simply stunning works of art that stand alone. I find them really mesmerising. And strangely, not at all spooky!
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#2
Gail Ellison 8 years ago
there is something unnatural about the tree and a lot unknown about the horns. the palette is desolate
Linann Singh 8 years ago
To me it's something that once was, and hope it can be again. Love it.
#3
#4
Maciej Piatek 8 years ago
I saw his works on my own eyes and never forget it. He was murdered in 2005. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zdzis%C5%82aw_Beksi%C5%84ski I strongly recommend "Last family" movie. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5936692/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1
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Shiva Dheva 8 years ago
I read that the director of Constantine was inspired by Beksinski's art. https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/going-hell-and-back-nuclear-blast-constantine
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Targaryen 8 years ago
Wiki: "The late 1990s were a very tragic time for Beksiński. His wife, Zofia, died in 1998; a year later, on Christmas Eve 1999, his son Tomasz (a popular radio presenter, music journalist and movie translator) committed suicide. Beksiński discovered his son's body. Unable to come to terms with his son's death, he kept an envelope "For Tomek in case I kick the bucket" pinned to his wall. Director Jan P. Matuszyński’s debut feature will focus on the relationship between the painter Zdzisław Beksiński and his son Tomasz Beksiński. The movie's release was planned for 2016.[3] Beksiński’s family vault at Sanok On 21 February 2005, Beksiński was found dead in his flat in Warsaw with 17 stab wounds on his body; two of the wounds were determined to have been fatal. Robert Kupiec (the teenage son of his longtime caretaker), who later pleaded guilty, and a friend were arrested shortly after the crime. On 9 November 2006 Robert Kupiec was sentenced to 25 years in prison"
#5
Carol Alanis 8 years ago
I don't know why but the yellow light makes me feel hope and peace, even though it's kinda sad and scary.
Miss Midnight 8 years ago
"You send send your children to war/To serve bastards and whores..." The horror and sorrow of wars.
Charles Laster 8 years ago
'and I was sat down in a valley of dry bones.. And lo, they were very dry, and the most high asked me, son of man what say you can these bones live.. And I answered I you say so. ' ezekiel'.
#6
Carol Nel 8 years ago
This scares me, scares me on so many levels, it is an absolutely frighteningly horrible nightmare.
Tom Lundholm 8 years ago
This f*****g thing made me realize that I've dreamt about it, or something very similar. I can even hear the sounds it makes.
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Gregoryc Fuller Jr. 8 years ago
Think this helped inspire Tools first vids,Sober,etc...while dark and creepy it also feels somehow familiar. This looks to me like I imagine cynicism to feel like on the inside. Wasting and decay, the decline of Western civilization. Millineallism/end times.
Mako Rutledge 3 years ago
It makes me think of the scenery from the Hell dimension in the Constantine movie featuring Keanu Reeves.
Ryan Phillips 8 years ago
To me it looks like purgatory. I can picture people inside, endlessly waiting in lines to realize the next fate of their existence.
#7
Art Animal 8 years ago
Is it weird that the thing that bothers me the most about this is the fact whatever that thing is, doesn't have a nose?
#8
Lore Leaha 8 years ago
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Wojciech Białek 8 years ago
this is my favourite <3 i've seen it in person, the torch looks as if it had a shining LED underneath, but it's just paint.
Ironcat_xox 8 years ago
I can actually imagine myself being there, and feeling that chilly emptiness walking down
Shiva Dheva 8 years ago
Good observation. Maybe the guy with the light has limited time to pass through this valley.
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Ryan Phillips 8 years ago
Walking past the reepers. They respect your presence because you embody love and carry the light.
#9
Rhys Durham 8 years ago
House is pretty sure its not lupus either. its never lupus
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Angel Reuber 7 years ago
The last of shedding of this material body as we see our way through the third eye to guide us to the next phase of the soul's journey.....a phase of letting go
#10
Dan Mihalache 8 years ago
The human flock moved all the way to the end - Turma umană mânată de colo-colo până la sfârșit. (În românește sună mai bine și spune mai mult.)
#11
Jessica McGee 8 years ago
Beautiful. There are no words that could describe the feeling this gives me.
Sarah Donoghue 8 years ago
This is incredible! There is something incredibly moving about this, it's beautiful.
Rosemary Hoad 7 years ago
To be with a loved one at the end of life isn’t scary to me. It’s comforting...
Maegan Standart 8 years ago
It's so far beyond that. I think it is beautiful.
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#12
Sabrina Henneman 8 years ago
Makes me think of where Sirius Black fell through in Harry Potter
Danielle Wilson 8 years ago
Chaos is outside the mirror, your dream life is through the mirror.
#13
LIAM THE GOD ∞ KITTY 2 years ago
i thought it was that one artist that makes paintings of thingds he sees in his acid trips.
#14
George Bowden IV 7 years ago
ive had this lucid dream... slenderman in the corner of a room ive never been in before. there was no ceiling, like a large office cubical, and no light source, so i couldnt make out the face, just the form, wearing a wide brimmed hat. i heard a young girl scream for her mommy in another room nearby, then i woke up...
Allie Appel 7 years ago
Ashton Kutcher's "Pranked" show got really f****d up in the last few years
Angel Reuber 7 years ago
Not the place to be curious enough to go through the opening. The two blind figures have been there so long it looks as though they stayed too long and forgot to carry on with their journey, lost in the illusion and staying there long enough to grow roots and mushrooms, and remain lost in some dark illusion....a prison of the mind
#15
Natalie McLaughlin 8 years ago
I see this more as someone who has felt like they need to have plastic surgery or botox or any cosmetic surgery to improve their looks, so much that they are killing them selves and really they become a monster because they need to continue the procedures. Its what they see as beautiful because the media tells them its beautiful, that you need to be a certain height, or size or look to be beautiful. And you get so wrapped up in it you lose sight of who you really are.
Jesus Wäre 8 years ago
A ballerina is strong but silent as she dances through her pain. She only shows beauty and grace dancing her pains in wonderful illusion.
George Bowden IV 7 years ago
if the nurses in the Silent Hill movie were naked and wearing a tutu...
Birma Gustafsson 8 years ago
Women, all wounded, scarred, silenced, and still forced to try and look beautiful.
Buffyville 4 years ago
This is not scary, it gassed victim of nazi camps and shows she was once a dancer
#16
Richard Pickman 8 years ago
Sex? This is more like gas chamber in concentration camp during the WW II.
Debbie Johnson 8 years ago
so many souls, note the demonic head overseeing it all, and the face, detached by the bricks. This stuff is incredible...
#18
Dragon Abode 8 years ago
I think it's safe to say at this point that... Even if his work is good... He needs to get some help
Stefani Plate 8 years ago
I personally don't feel that that type of an assumption really is safe to state. For many artists, this IS help. This IS them working through their issues. Dreams are supposed to be one of the deepest looks into our subconscious that we can get on our own, if we know how to read them--and he's pulling them out and recreating them. He isn't insane. This is art. Art IS insane in itself.
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Robin Jones 4 years ago
He likely endured the unimaginable. Like it or loath it his genius is undeniable.
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Roberto Tostado Viesca 8 years ago
He was older than Giger. He was murdered in 2004 when he was in his 80's.
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ScottieWallaceness 4 years ago
the game dark wood and the art style and story seem to be based around this and his other works, it was also developed in Poland and is an easy play hard to master work of horror artistry... if you like these works and like the idea of an adult dark faerytale definitely try it or even just check a review of darkwood on youtube to get the idea!
#19
Sophia Christina 8 years ago
The dinosaur skeleton lies in front of an altar hung with symbols of different religions, but the god is unrecognizable. Interesting.
Angel Reuber 7 years ago
What has been done in the name of acquiring the prize....what the greedy and selfish have to look forward to
L. Sam Robinson 8 years ago
All the pets are waiting for dinner.....the parakeet didn't make it.
#20
the shrimp whisperer 2 years ago
YES its not even the most thrash metal thing on this list tho xD
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#21
Angel Reuber 7 years ago
The influence over the innocent being directed by the predatorial dark unknown force. The child cannot turn around to see what compels him...lost in thoughts not of his own making
L. Sam Robinson 8 years ago
Lost in Space episode. The robot is following Billy Mummy back to the stranded space ship. Warning! Warning!
#23
the shrimp whisperer 2 years ago
🎵 ive been walking through your streets // where all your money is earned🎵
Angel Reuber 7 years ago
The last of what we built with out minds.....and now this,too will go...
#24
Neill Augustine 8 years ago
Looks like Hell as represented in the Keanu Reeves film 'Constantine'.
#25
Glitchy Sage 5 years ago
Demon: "Oh you're claustrophobic? Hold my beer, I got the perfect thing for you."
#26
Dee Bernath 8 years ago
This adds a really creepy dimension to the Graves opening up an souls going up into heaven.
Little letitia 8 years ago
i see it more as the mass graves from concentration camps being opened to let the innocent find their proper place of final rest, and place in heven
Load More Replies... Glitchy Sage 5 years ago
Feel like the one being crucified is being pulled up too, but being lashed to the cross he can't leave his body so he's just squirming there.
Angel Reuber 7 years ago
Immigrants waiting for the government to help them relocate for a better life and our leader's first crucifixion of those who dare cross into our side of the border....Enter at your own risk
#27
#28
Joseph Ryan 8 years ago
This is the face referenced in the Beatles tune, "Eleanor Rigby." "Wearing the face she keeps in a jar by the door."
Luna Lovegood <3 8 years ago
all I can say is AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#29
Martha Arevalo 8 years ago
I've had the dream except everything was light pink.. and instead of buildings, I saw bluewhales.
Josephine Dino 7 years ago
That sounds like something that needs to be painted!
Load More Replies... Angel Reuber 7 years ago
Demons of total destruction.....I agree with Apollo....Dali leaped to mind right off the bat
#30
Buffyville 4 years ago
A gassed victim feeling theyr heart being ripped out because they have to leave behind a hungry child
Angel Reuber 7 years ago
Self examination in the abstract....unable to make sense, but aware of there being more but cannot see (the bag over the head and the person behind)
#31
Joseph Ryan 8 years ago
Bomber Bird losing its wings The transport has become the cargo, the payload, the weapon
David Michel 7 years ago
Is that a pilot saluting in the background. Perhaps assuming he is dead since the front of this bird is missing.
#32
#33
the shrimp whisperer 2 years ago
alien grinch regrets his promise to stick a needle in his eye
Glitchy Sage 5 years ago
Meditation, I feel my focus and conscious turn in on itself then eventually settle into a central point.
#34
Alixzander Lopez 2 years ago
And the fact that there is masculine chest/s depicted but there's no content cover over that.
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Jesper Hellvik 8 years ago
No seriously. I want to know what exactly makes naked breasts horrifying! This new puritan b******t has to stop!!!
Marzipanda 8 years ago
The oedipal complex (son's attraction to his mom) rears its ugly head and uneven breasts (as if blighted by cancer).
Hanover Fist 3 years ago
This was blocked because of the mere suggestion of mammaries?? We are ridiculous.
Makayla Bolton 6 years ago
Dude those don’t even look like breasts they look like eyes. Why they so lopsided? Even I’m not that bad. You need implants, man 😂😂😂😂😂
Tom Barter 8 years ago
I know people have mixed thoughts on public breastfeeding but this is ridiculous.
#35
Aessidhe Eclipse 8 years ago
well, he painted his wwii trauma (experienced it as a child), war was disgusting.
Load More Replies... L. Sam Robinson 8 years ago
When too many kids stick their tongues on frozen metal pipes. This is what you get.
Robert Saghai 8 years ago
This is why you never lick a frost covered pole. These people paid the ultimate price.
#36
Angel Reuber 7 years ago
The long wait at the social security office for help, only to be shown the door.....
Orlanda Henry 8 years ago
In a world filled with ignorance.. with a mind filled with questions... it certainly can be very lonely
#37
Al Emond 8 years ago
Initially said jokingly. But then I looked closer. They're flying around. And the obvious reference, at least, to one in the ether regions...
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#38
Angel Reuber 7 years ago
Petrified, lifeless layers of something that once was, now standing alone, and worthless
#39
Neill Augustine 8 years ago
I'm betting he couldn't draw a happy picture if his life depended on it.
#42
#43
Jerry Perry 8 years ago
It makes me think of that headpiece/crown Triple H used to wear when he had matches at Wrestlemania.
Rémi Kalazic 8 years ago
The Blind King, without eyes he will look into your soul and find the deepest fear and secret you have...
#45
L. Sam Robinson 8 years ago
This is how you look when the test is over and you realize you colored the circles for the wrong lines
Jordan Westphal 8 years ago
Well their album artwork came from an actual artist who has lots of pieces of the third eye theme. I can't think of the artists name but a friend of mine has a book with a lot of the artwork from said artist. A lot of these give me the same feeling
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#47
#48
Muhammad Ibn-Raqib 8 years ago
I love how with each painting you think you can try and figure out what is going on. But it's painted with a way to where you truly can never understand it. And are completely lost, test dumbfounded and put in a state of thought that's as eerie as any nightmarish dream you've ever experienced. He conveys so much essence of a nightmare. How does he do this?! I want to meet this guy!
Miguel Figueira 8 years ago
HE'S DEAD!!! LIKE MY HOPES AND DREEAAAAAAMS!!!!!!!
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Glitchy Sage 5 years ago
Living inside your mind, in my opinion this is one of the least deformed and most normal of the faces in his paintings, but it's eyes are hollow with a dim light coming out and covered in a strange veil that creates the effect of curtains over the eyes. This person's suffering is being trapped inside their own mind.
Angel Reuber 7 years ago
The expression people get when I talk about something they're not interested in....but it doesn't work
Brianne Yensen 8 years ago
These would be really cool on Tarot cards. This guy has amazing talents not to just paint his nightmares but to remember them. Meeting this guy would be amazing.
Jenny Rose Hernandez 8 years ago
this guy took the 'eyes are the windows to the soul' seriously and put curtains on his
Josh Braegger 8 years ago
He's dead now, murdered with two stabs, all over a couple hundred dollars
Add New Image
What do you think ?
John L 8 years ago
I believe its safe to say that WWII played a major part in the artist's outlook of the universe. The destruction caused by the Nazis, and then the Soviets were horrible and must have had an everlasting impression on him. After all, he was only 11 when the war began, and 16 when it ended with occupation. No wonder he was so happy on the outside and so preoccupied with death and destruction in his subconscious, which found its way into his art.
Zuzanna Sendor 8 years ago
This is not entirely true. He was often asked about the war's influence on his work and this is what he said in one of the interviews (rough translation from Polish): "I was 10 when the war began. I was raised on comic books, death rays and Martians so I expected that war will bring spectacular experiences. Yet, war in my opinion as a child was just a change of the officials and bad food. Then it's rather difficult to admit I'm painting the catastrophe of war that I remember from childhood. Honestly speaking, I was actually disappointed with the lack of *special effects*. That's the way I'd put it. Of course I saw the dead and I survived the longlasting front, but for children such things are like water off duck's back." (quote from his art dealer's site http://beksinski.dmochowskigallery.net/introduction.php)
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Zori the degu 8 years ago
Beksinski' s work make you think. He combined beauty, horror and human fears to create something that captivates our attention and mind. The hairs on my neck went straight before I reached the end of the first page, yet I continued to the end of the list(as many of the other pandas did for sure) because there's something about these pictures' dark style that make you wish to see more no matter how terrified you are.
Jerie Ragsac 8 years ago
Beksinski was an amazing artist. He channeled his emotions through his work like depression, paranoia, fear.. Strangely, I was first introduced to his works in my Psychology class back in college and not in Humanities (which is like Art Class here), lol. Wasnt he already featured in BoredPanda before? (I remembered because I soft copied all the paintings featured)
Michel M. Prins 8 years ago
Zdzisław Beksiński was a very interesting artist and I think he was an amazing influence to other artists. But it's always sad to realize that he had to deal with so many tragic parts in his life. Even though many said he was a kind and loving person. His works aged very well and, in my opinion, are timeless. And the thing is, I'm not even a fan of post-apocalyptic and/or nightmare artworks, but they always look incredibly stunning! Mister Beksiński did an incredible job on these works!
Lucky Lambdin 8 years ago
If Beksinski wants to re-torture himself with such unpleasant imagery, guess that's up to him. Me, have similar dreams, but do my best to leave them behind & forget them.
Migdalis Gonzalez 8 years ago
I think he visits every night Dante's World... but maybe are realitys of our worst nightmare's in parallels dimensions.
Robert L. Hudson 8 years ago
I could come close to painting one of those than dreaming it!
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Barbara Gaweł 8 years ago
Beksiński painted for throw out self his thougs during his ilness( he had schizophrenia and he knew it) I'm fascinated his paining very early because my father's family home are in Sanok. I remeber as one day touched his stone paint because i couldn't belive this was only paint...I very recommend to see his pieces of art which are available in old castle in Sanok! P6160039-5...b9f8f7.jpg 
Dżoana Kałuża 8 years ago
There are galleries in Krakow and Sanok- if you ever visit Poland (which I highly recommend :) ). If you are realy lucky, there can be an exhibition in other city like Warsaw. Once there was even Virtual Reality show. Just imagine a stroll in a world made of his paintings... or Dali's, or other painters. Great idea!
Camille Bequette Salls 8 years ago
I think these are beautiful, and also creepy. It takes a true artist to create something that truly gets under someones skin and makes them feel fear, and emotion.
John L 8 years ago
I believe its safe to say that WWII played a major part in the artist's outlook of the universe. The destruction caused by the Nazis, and then the Soviets were horrible and must have had an everlasting impression on him. After all, he was only 11 when the war began, and 16 when it ended with occupation. No wonder he was so happy on the outside and so preoccupied with death and destruction in his subconscious, which found its way into his art.
Zuzanna Sendor 8 years ago
This is not entirely true. He was often asked about the war's influence on his work and this is what he said in one of the interviews (rough translation from Polish): "I was 10 when the war began. I was raised on comic books, death rays and Martians so I expected that war will bring spectacular experiences. Yet, war in my opinion as a child was just a change of the officials and bad food. Then it's rather difficult to admit I'm painting the catastrophe of war that I remember from childhood. Honestly speaking, I was actually disappointed with the lack of *special effects*. That's the way I'd put it. Of course I saw the dead and I survived the longlasting front, but for children such things are like water off duck's back." (quote from his art dealer's site http://beksinski.dmochowskigallery.net/introduction.php)
Load More Replies... Zori the degu 8 years ago
Beksinski' s work make you think. He combined beauty, horror and human fears to create something that captivates our attention and mind. The hairs on my neck went straight before I reached the end of the first page, yet I continued to the end of the list(as many of the other pandas did for sure) because there's something about these pictures' dark style that make you wish to see more no matter how terrified you are.
Jerie Ragsac 8 years ago
Beksinski was an amazing artist. He channeled his emotions through his work like depression, paranoia, fear.. Strangely, I was first introduced to his works in my Psychology class back in college and not in Humanities (which is like Art Class here), lol. Wasnt he already featured in BoredPanda before? (I remembered because I soft copied all the paintings featured)
Michel M. Prins 8 years ago
Zdzisław Beksiński was a very interesting artist and I think he was an amazing influence to other artists. But it's always sad to realize that he had to deal with so many tragic parts in his life. Even though many said he was a kind and loving person. His works aged very well and, in my opinion, are timeless. And the thing is, I'm not even a fan of post-apocalyptic and/or nightmare artworks, but they always look incredibly stunning! Mister Beksiński did an incredible job on these works!
Lucky Lambdin 8 years ago
If Beksinski wants to re-torture himself with such unpleasant imagery, guess that's up to him. Me, have similar dreams, but do my best to leave them behind & forget them.
Migdalis Gonzalez 8 years ago
I think he visits every night Dante's World... but maybe are realitys of our worst nightmare's in parallels dimensions.
Robert L. Hudson 8 years ago
I could come close to painting one of those than dreaming it!
Load More Replies... Barbara Gaweł 8 years ago
Beksiński painted for throw out self his thougs during his ilness( he had schizophrenia and he knew it) I'm fascinated his paining very early because my father's family home are in Sanok. I remeber as one day touched his stone paint because i couldn't belive this was only paint...I very recommend to see his pieces of art which are available in old castle in Sanok! P6160039-5...b9f8f7.jpg
Dżoana Kałuża 8 years ago
There are galleries in Krakow and Sanok- if you ever visit Poland (which I highly recommend :) ). If you are realy lucky, there can be an exhibition in other city like Warsaw. Once there was even Virtual Reality show. Just imagine a stroll in a world made of his paintings... or Dali's, or other painters. Great idea!
Camille Bequette Salls 8 years ago
I think these are beautiful, and also creepy. It takes a true artist to create something that truly gets under someones skin and makes them feel fear, and emotion.
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