Art has the ability to create emotion which it carries on to the viewer. Therefore it is no surprise that some artworks have the ability to create negative emotions such as sadness, fear and anger. Then there are those artworks that really seem to come to life.
Creepy portraits are a necessity in horror movies or haunted houses. Those eyes that constantly follow you no matter which direction you move, or the photographs of the angry looking home owner from 1502. We all know exactly what I am talking about. Then there are those artworks that truly create some spooky stories and surround some really creepy occurrences.
The Crying Boy – Giovanni Bragolin
In the 1950’s artist Giovanni Bragolin created a series of painting of children looking sad, with tears in their eyes. The paintings became so popular that over 80 000 prints sold worldwide. The most popular of these was named “The Crying Boy”. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s people decorated their home with The Crying Boy prints, it seemed as if every home owned one. In fact, you can still buy prints on e-Bay today.
“Blazing Curse of The Crying Boy” was the headline of The Sun in 1985. The article was about a home that had burned to the ground with everything having turned to ash, except the print of The Crying Boy. The artwork remained entirely intact even though it was believed to have been right by the source of the blaze. Soon after the article aired, stories started to come out of other homes where the print had been involved in a house fire but remained unburned. One firefighter even claimed that he had been called out to a total of 15 house fires, all of which had The Crying Boy hanging in their home, and in all of these fires the print remained in perfect condition. The Sun then posted an ad saying that those who wish to get rid of the cursed print could bring it to them and they burned it all in a giant bonfire.
At one point a TV show attempted to debunk The Crying Boy Curse and held a flame to the artwork on live TV. Although the corner of the print took some damage, the rest of it would not catch fire. It was then concluded that likely the artwork was printed on some kind of flame resistant material and that it was all just a giant coincidence.
Years later and the curse seems to have died down with very little reports of house fires involving these prints. The boy in the artwork grew to be a young adult. Until he burned to death in his car after a car accident.
Man Proposes, God Disposes – Edwin Landseer
This artwork hangs in the Royal Holloway College where it is often covered with the American Flag. This is because it is believed that if you look at it during exams, you will fail and if you stare at it for too long you will begin to lose your mind.
The artwork depicts two polar bears attacking a ship and chewing on the human remains of those belonging to the failed expedition led by John Franklin. They set out to find the North-West Passage but never returned. Two ships part of the same expedition went missing. After doing investigation it appeared that some sailors had survived and were living in other lands, some objects belonging to the ships had been found as well as human remains that showed signs of cannibalism.
The artwork made its way to Royal Holloway College after Holloway purchased it on auction to hang in his new Institute for Female Education. Many claimed that it was unsuitable for the presence of young women but Holloway maintained that it had the ability to spark intellectual conversation amongst women with inquisitive minds. It hangs there still.
Love Letter's Replica - Artist Unknown
This artwork hangs at the Driskill Hotel in Texas where a US senator’s 4 year old daughter, Samantha Houston, fell down the stairs to her death in 1887. Although the artwork is not a painting of Samantha it is said to have a strong resemblance to the young girl. It is deeply believed that Samantha’s spirit haunts the artwork after many have claimed to see her facial expression change and others claimed that they got physically ill after staring at it for too long.
The Rain Woman – Svetlana Telets
This beautiful artwork is claimed to have been created in only 5 hours through some form of automatic writing. Telets claims that although it was her hand that painted the artwork, it was being controlled by another entity. This came after she felt as if she was being watched and followed for six months. Telets claims that she does not know what the purpose of the artwork is and that shortly after its completion the sensation of being watched or followed disappeared.
Every person who has bought the artwork has resold it. They reported that after bringing the painting into their home they experienced severe insomnia and anxiety, as well as the feeling of being followed and watched around their own homes.
The Dead Mother – Edvard Munch
Munch was driven nearly insane by the abuse and religious fanaticism experienced by him and his sister after their mother’s death. The artist and his sister lost their mother to Tuberculosis when he was only 5 years old. In the artwork he depicts his mother lying in bed in the background. In the foreground is the image of a little girl faced away from her mother with her hands over her ears. Many have speculated why the little girl covers her ears. The most popular opinion on this is that the little girl covers her ears from her father’s rants and abuse.
Those who have owned the artworks claim that the girl’s eyes follow them as they move and that the sheets on the mother’s bed rustle within the artworks. Some have claimed walking past the painting only to see that the image of the little girl has completely disappeared.
Untitled Nightmarish Painting – Zdzislaw Beksinski
Beksinski was a very troubled artist. He never titled his artworks and was known to often burn a lot of them in his backyard. Beksinski lost his wife 1998 and a year later his son committed suicide. Around six years later Beksinski was found murdered in his own apartment. This particular artwork is creepy to look at and it is believed that those who look at it for too long will soon die. For those who do not know this artist, I would recommend looking into his work. It really leaves the mind with a lot to consider.
The Hand’s Resist Him – Bill Stoneham
This artwork became famous after being auctioned on e-Bay with a write-up that read:
“WHEN WE RECEIVED THIS PAINTING, WE THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY GOOD ART. A “PICKER” HAD FOUND IT ABANDONNED BEHIND AN OLD BREWERY. AT THE WE WONDERED WHY A SEEMINGLY PERFECTLY FINE PAINTING WOULD BE DISCARDED LIKE THAT. ( TODAY WE DONT!!! ) ONE MORNING OUR 4 AND ½ YEAR OLD DAUGHTER CLAIMED, THAT THE CHILDREN IN THE PICTURE WERE FIGHTING, AND COMING INTO THE ROOM DURING THE NIGHT. NOW, I DON’T BELIEVE IN UFOS OR ELVIS BEING ALIVE, BUT MY HUSBAND WAS ALARMED. TO MY AMUSEMENT HE SET UP A MOTION TRIGGERED CAMREA FOR THE NIGHTS. AFTER THREE NIGHTS THERE WERE PICTURES. THE LAST TWO PICTURES SHOWN ARE FROM THAT ‘STAKEOUT’. AFTER SEEING THE BOY SEEMINGLY EXIT THE PAINTING UNDER THREAT, WE DECIDED, THE PAINTING HAS TO GO. PLEASE JUDGE FOR YOURSELF. ---BEFORE YOU DO, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWIND WARNING AND DISCLAIMER. ---- WARNING: DO NOT BID ON THIS PAINTING IF YOU ARE SUCCESPTIBLE TO STRESS RELATED DISEASE, FAINT OF HEART OR ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH SUPERNATURAL EVENTS. BY BIDDING ON THIS PAINTING, YOU AGREE TO RELEASE THE OWNERS OF ALL LIABILITY IN RELATION TO THE SALE OR ANY EVENTS HAPPENING AFTER THE SALE, THAT MIGHT BE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS PAINTING. THIS PAINTING MAY OR MAY NOT POSESS SUPERNATURAL POWERS, THAT COULD IMPACT OR CHANGE YOUR LIFE. HOWEVER, BY BIDDING YOU AGREE TO EXCLUSIVLY BID ON THE VALUE OF THE ARTWORK, WITH DISREGARD TO THE LAST TWO PHOTOS FEATURED IN THIS AUCTION, AND HOLD THE OWNERS HARMLESS IN REGARD TO THEM AND THEIR IMPACT, EXRESSED OR IMPLIED. ---------NOW THAT WE GOT THIS OUT OF THE WAY, ONE QUESTION TO YOU EBAYERS. WE WANT OUR HOUSE TO BE BLESSED AFTER THE PAINTING IS GONE, DOES ANYBODY KNOW, WHO IS QUALIFIED TO DO THAT?”
The daughter of the family complained that the boy and the doll would fight with each other at night and eventually climbed out of the artwork to fight with each other some more. The motion camera that the parents set up recorded motion and changing colours which made the hands in the background appear to move, as well as changed the battery in the doll’s hand to look more like a weapon.
Stoneham originally sold the artwork to actor John Marley who eventually died. It was then discovered that the critic who looked at the artwork had also died, as well as the owner of the gallery from which the artwork was first sold. There is no record or trace of how the artwork wound up thrown out behind a brewery.
The Anguished Man - Artist Unknown
This artwork lived in the attic of the current owner’s grandmother. She had told him that the artist committed suicide shortly after creating it and that he had mixed some of his own blood in with the paint. For the 25 years that it lived in his grandmother’s attic she reported seeing a tall shadow figure hanging around her home as well as sounds of movement and crying around the home.
After she passed away he inherited the artwork and hung it in his home. Shortly after hanging it he started to experience similar occurrences with a shadow figure and unusual sounds. The shadow figure would often stand at the end of their bed and stare at them.
Artists put a lot of energy into their artworks. Perhaps it is possible for this energy to manipulate the viewer’s emotions or reactions towards the artwork, which in turn makes them experience something really out of the ordinary. Often artworks depict the strongest memories of an artist or an artist’s emotional interpretation of a situation, this in turn means that when you view an artwork you see a fragment of the artist displayed in colour. This will cause you to react depending on the way the visuals affect your emotional interpretation. There is no reason an artwork would not give you an uneasy feeling or a feeling of being watched. Especially when it comes to portraits or self-portraits. Those seems particularly personal.
