Untitled 

This untitled painting was made by the Polish artist Zdzislaw Beksinski, who died in 2005. Though undated, it embodies themes he developed in his dystopian and surrealist period. Beksinski’s works have an apocalyptic feel, often depicting disturbing scenes of death and decay. The skeletal horse and rider seem to emerge from a nightmarish landscape of blasted trees. Born in Poland in 1929, Beksinski lived through the Second World War, a time of unimaginable destruction that had a lasting impact on Polish society and culture. In the decades after the war, Poland became a satellite state of the Soviet Union, its artistic institutions and freedoms curtailed by the communist regime. We can read Beksinski’s work as a response to the pervasive sense of trauma and loss that shaped Polish identity in the 20th century. Art historians often consult national archives to understand the complex relationship between artistic expression and the socio-political contexts of their time. The result is a deeper appreciation of the artist's contribution to the cultural landscape.