Zdzisław Beksiński, 24 February 1929 – 21 February 2005) was a renowned Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor. Beksiński executed his paintings and drawings either in what he called a 'Baroque' or a 'Gothic' manner. The first style is dominated by representation, with the best-known examples coming from his fantastic realism period when he painted disturbing images of a surrealistic, nightmarish environment. The second style is more abstract, being dominated by form, and is typified by Beksiński's later paintings.

Beksiński was murdered in 2005.

A replica of pre-historic drawings showing horses, rhinoceros and aurochs is seen on a wall during a press visit at the site of the Cavern of Pont-d'Arc project in Vallon Pont d'Arc April 8, 2015. The Cavern of Pont-d'Arc project is a replica of the pre-historic Decorated Cave of Pont-d'Arc known as Grotte Chauvet, in Vallon Pont-d'Arc in the Ardeche region, containing the world's earliest known art which was recently named a UNESCO World Heritage site. The facsimile cavern, which condenses some 8000m² of the original site into 3000m², will display faithful reproductions of paintings and engravings and will be inaugurated on April 10 and will open to the public on April 25. (Photo by Robert Pratta/Reuters)

Alluvial Fan, China. A vast alluvial fan blossoms across the desolate landscape between the Kunlun and Altun mountain ranges that form the southern border of the Taklimakan Desert in China’s XinJiang Province. Image taken by the ASTER instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite on May 2nd, 2002. (Photo by NASA/GSFC/USGS EROS Data Center)

Internationally acclaimed German three-dimensional artist Manfred Stader adds finishing touches to his artwork in Cape Town, South Africa on 21 November 2010. Stader created this masterpiece to celebrate the opening of Speedo's first dedicated concept store in Africa. (Photo by Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images)