"Cursed" paintings. Cursed paintings Paintings with a bad reputation

Since ancient times, people have believed in the mystical power of paintings. Suffice it to recall the primitive tribes and their rock paintings depicting scenes of a successful hunt: by depicting prey pierced by spears, the ancient artists tried to clearly show the patron spirits what they expected from the coming day.

However, there are many legends and tales that tell of cursed paintings that bring misfortune and even death to their owners.

"The Demon Defeated" by Vrubel

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel, one of the most famous artists in Russia, distinguished himself with two “cursed” canvases. The first painting, a portrait of his beloved son Savva, was painted shortly before the child’s death. A bitter loss in the artist’s family occurred unexpectedly: Savva fell ill and died suddenly.

During the same period, Mikhail Alexandrovich painted the painting “The Defeated Demon.” Its creation coincided with a serious deterioration in the artist’s physical and mental health, including the death of his young son. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, he could not tear himself away from painting the picture, each time adding more and more new touches. Moreover, one day a Demon appeared to him in a dream and demanded that the painting be called an icon, since the beautiful defeated evil should be worshiped like other martyrs.

After the painting was sent to the exhibition, Vrubel followed it and continued to make changes to his work right in the exhibition hall. Realizing that he was becoming obsessed, Vrubel agreed to treatment in a psychiatric clinic. However, the artist’s illness did not subside. Having improved his mental state and returned to his former life, he began to lose his sight and spent the last years of his life in complete darkness.

"The Crying Boy" by Giovanni Bragolin

In 1985, a series of fires occurred in Northern England. Some victims claimed that of all their property, only a reproduction of the painting “The Crying Boy,” painted by Giovanni Bragolina, an Italian artist of the 20th century, survived. In a short time, rumors spread throughout the country that the painting was cursed. It even got to the point that one of the printed publications published information that all owners of reproductions of this painting should immediately get rid of them, moreover, the acquisition and storage of copies of the painting was prohibited by the authorities.

According to legend, Bragolina used his son as a sitter for this painting, and to obtain the desired emotion, he burned matches in front of the baby’s face. This was especially cruel because the artist knew that his little son was terrified of fire.

In the end, the exhausted child shouted to his father: “Burn yourself!”, and these words were soon fulfilled. A couple of weeks later, the boy died of pneumonia, and soon the house in which his father was located burned down.

"Water Lilies" by Claude Monet

The canvas “Water Lilies” by the impressionist Claude Monet is also considered cursed: almost immediately after the painting was completed, a fire occurred in the artist’s workshop. "Water Lilies" survived.

In order to renovate his studio, Claude Monet sold the painting to the owner of one of the cabarets in Montmartre. Alas, the landscape did not decorate this entertainment establishment for long: in less than six months it turned into ashes. Did anything survive? Yes, the fire spared “Water Lilies” this time too.

Then the picture went to one of the Parisian patrons - Oscar Schmitz. And a year later his house burned to the ground: they say that the fire started in the room on the wall of which the painting hung. By the way, she survived again.

Similar stories were repeated over and over again, and in 1955 “Water Lilies” ended up in the New York Museum of Modern Art. The picture did not please the eyes of visitors for long. Three years later, the second floor, on which the painting was displayed, was seriously damaged by fire. This time, the ill-fated masterpiece also perished in the fire.

"The Scream" by Edvard Munch

The painting “The Scream” by the famous Norwegian artist Edvard Munch is one of the most recognizable and quoted works of art. Its cost is estimated at tens of millions of dollars, but many people would probably refuse to hang it in their home, even if they got it for free. The fact is that many accidents and coincidences are associated with this painting, which makes one think about the curse that this painting carries.

Many people whose activities were in one way or another connected with the film experienced its negative impact: severe depression, sudden death and severance of relationships with loved ones - this is just the beginning of the list.

Located in the Oslo Museum, the painting did not forgive anyone who in one way or another encroached on its safety. So, one of the museum employees once accidentally dropped a masterpiece. Soon he began to have severe headaches, which drove him to suicide.

Another museum worker also accidentally dropped a painting while hanging it from one wall to another. A few days later, he was in a terrible car accident, suffering a concussion and serious broken limbs.

As you know, museum exhibits cannot be touched. The violator of this rule, who touched the canvas with his fingers, burned alive in his house a couple of days after that.

Video - Cursed paintings TOP 5

It's no secret that every work carries a piece of the soul and thoughts of its creator. There are well-known stories about writers and poets predicting certain events in their lives and even “guessing” the date of their death. Composers can influence the subconscious and emotional state of people with their music; actors playing other people's roles on stage can unwittingly repeat the fate of their heroes. But, perhaps, the greatest mystical meaning has been attached to paintings since ancient times. Some paintings are great creations of legendary artists and keep many mysteries and secrets. Some of these paintings are called cursed, they are feared and avoided in every possible way. People believe that they have negative, evil energy and bring misfortune to their owners. Even if you don’t keep these paintings in your home, but just admire the image in some museum for a long time, you can still experience negative consequences, get injured, or even die.

One of the paintings that researchers have been studying for a long time is “The Adoration of the Magi.” In their opinion, it has a detrimental effect on women and leads to infertility. This has been established for certain. So, one day a young woman, who was Bruegel the Elder’s cousin, posed for him when he created the image of the Virgin Mary. After writing the work, it turned out that she could no longer have children. And this was not the only case. History repeated itself over and over again.

Many years later, collectors who decorated their collections with this work also found themselves childless or infertile. Probably, this feature of the painting was well known, and therefore its last owner was a father with many children, who did not want any more children and gladly purchased this “guarantor” of childlessness for his collection.

The painting is now in London in the National Gallery of Art. Further research was no longer carried out, and therefore how many more women suffered from the picture is unknown.

“Venus with a Mirror” is another, but more sinister painting. It is known for the fact that it can ruin and even kill its owner and other innocent members of his family. This painting was created by the famous Spanish painter Diego Velazquez. Historically, its owners acquired many problems along with the painting. So, the first owner of this work of art was a wealthy merchant, who soon went bankrupt. Afterwards this happened several more times.

Another well-known painting is “The Crying Boy.” Perhaps this picture caused the greatest amount of noise at the time.

We are not talking about the painting itself, but about reproductions of the painting “The Crying Boy” by the talented Spanish painter Giovanni Bragolina, all of whose owners, without exception, suddenly and almost simultaneously, became fire victims. After the public outcry caused by these cases, in England it was completely prohibited to sell and keep this painting in the house under threat of legal proceedings.

The fires caused by this “boy” shocked the whole world. Information about the events in Great Britain that took place in 1985 came again and again and did not leave the front pages of newspapers.

So, England was overwhelmed by a wave of sudden fires of unknown cause, completely unrelated to each other. In all these cases, there was only one thing in common: in all the burnt houses there was a reproduction of the same painting “The Crying Boy”, and, oddly enough, the fires started from the room where this cheap reproduction was located. At that time, it was found in many homes, as it was very popular and was sold in almost every store. This could be considered a mere coincidence, if not for one nuance: in all cases, without a single exception, this canvas managed to avoid damage, while all the things around it burned to the ground.

Repeated fires over and over again could not hide from public attention. Finally, all the newspapers were full of information that firefighters in different cities, while extinguishing fires that broke out for no reason, found reproductions of the painting “The Crying Boy.”

A lot has been said about this story and, in order not to repeat itself, it is worth noting that the mass burning of reproductions of paintings in the city square is a blatant incident in history.

The beautiful painting “Water Lilies” by the impressionist Claude Monet also caused a lot of noise. When he finished working on this painting, he decided to organize a festive buffet in his studio. Quite suddenly, in the midst of the celebration, a fire broke out there. Fortunately, the fire was extinguished. However, the case turned out to be not an isolated one. To be more precise, it was not only the artist who suffered. When the owner of the painting was found and it passed into his hands, a fire also started in his house, but the painting survived - they managed to save it. Then the owner changed - the painting ended up in Paris with a wealthy collector. Exactly a year later, his house was destroyed in a fire. And again the picture remained intact and unharmed.

As a result, the painting found a home in a museum in New York. And, as incredible as it may sound, a fire also unexpectedly occurred in the museum building. The painting could no longer survive this fire and received quite severe damage.

Whether there is a connection between these fires is not known for certain. However, as they say, one case may be random, but four is very similar to a pattern. Different people, different countries and even different times. And in all these cases there is only one thing in common - a picture of water lilies.

The shocking picture “Hands Protecting Him” is not recommended for people with weak mental health to look at. After all, even in completely healthy, calm people, the canvas caused a state of shock and attacks of sudden panic. Hysteria, moving from joy and incredible excitement to a feeling of grief and stupor.

This painting was written by American Bill Stoneham. She depicts a boy with a frightening facial expression and a disproportionately large head, and a girl - a doll with frighteningly empty black eyes. Behind the children there is a scary glass door, to which, from the inside, the child’s hands are pressed.

The very first owner of this work was a wealthy American. Shortly after acquiring this work of art, he died suddenly. Afterwards, the painting “passed” into the possession of the famous actor Bob Marley. But he did not live long after the purchase.

Some time later, ordinary people found this painting in a garbage dump and decided to take it for themselves. The painting was hung in the most “honorable” place, but it did not please the owners for long. The very next night, their young child, in a state of shock and with an expression of horror on his face, ran into his parents’ room and with tears told how the picture frightened him. According to the child, the children in the picture began to hit each other.

The first time the parents managed to calm the child down, they probably decided that the girl was making up something. However, the next night the child came running in tears again and said that children were walking around the room! Then the frightened parents installed a security camera in the room, what was their horror when the camera went off twice during the night, catching some kind of movement.

The owners of the house were so scared that they decided to get rid of the strange painting. They put the painting up for auction, hoping to sell it as quickly as possible. With the appearance of the painting at the auction, visitors began to experience strange feelings and health problems, dizziness and hellish headaches, they fought in hysterics and trembled with unknown fear, and sometimes even lost consciousness. They began to blame the painting for everything, but human greed knows no fear. The “sensational” painting was bought for a private collection and, no matter how the owner was asked to get rid of the canvas, he flatly refused. He was probably driven by greed - after all, mystical paintings with their own history, which everyone hears, although they consider them cursed, are, nevertheless, unique. There is always a chance to sell such a masterpiece to some enthusiastic person for several times more expensive than it was purchased. We are talking about colossal amounts.

The painting “The Scream” is considered the true embodiment of the suffering and torment of the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. It depicts something that very vaguely resembles a human being. In fact, the face of this creature is similar to the mask of the killer from the famous horror film “Scream” (maybe it was this picture that inspired the director?). The painting is a kind of symbol representing the life and fate of the unfortunate, sick artist.

It so happened that people who in one way or another came into contact with this work of art, or, God forbid, who harmed it, eventually began to experience its destructive effects, even to the point of threatening their own lives. Several museum workers who handled the painting carelessly soon died in terrible agony. One had a serious accident and broke almost all the bones in his body, another fell ill with an incurable disease, and the third was burned to death in his own home.

By the way, one of the visitors also died from the fire, who, while visiting the art gallery, looked at “The Scream” for a long time, and then decided to touch the painting with his hands.

They say that now this work has an owner - a private collector who was not afraid of the curse and bought “The Scream” at auction. Who he is and what the fate of this man is remains a mystery, since the buyer decided to remain incognito.

Surprisingly, the fact remains that there are paintings that feed on the life and energy of their sitters and creators.

People posing for great artists died one after another, literally immediately after the artist finished painting their portrait. Such tragic events haunted the sitters of Rubens, Somov, Borovikovsky, Vrubel, Repin, Serov, Petrov, Modigliani, Rembrandt and many others. These artists have one thing in common: the tragic death of their sitters. All these people were victims of some kind of misfortune.

By the way, if you delve into the study of the biography of these artists, then their own lives, in most cases, cannot be called happy and cloudless.

It is not known for certain what is the reason for all this, but it is not without reason that since ancient times ordinary people have been afraid and tried in every way to avoid having their portrait painted. Needless to say, even in an advanced modern society, you can meet people who firmly believe in the mystical power of such portraits. In Islam, portraits are prohibited; other religions prohibit even taking photos as a souvenir.

1. This picture was painted by Bill Stoneham. The scandal began after one of the exhibitions. Mentally unbalanced people viewing this picture became ill, they lost consciousness, began to cry, etc. It all started in 1972, when the picture was drawn by Bill Stoneham from an old photograph of him at age five found in the Chicago house where he lived at the time (first photograph).
The painting was first shown to the owner and art critic of the Los Angeles Times, who later died. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe not. The painting was then acquired by actor John Marley (died 1984). Then the fun begins. The painting was found in a landfill among a pile of garbage. The family who found her brought her home and already on the first night the little four-year-old daughter ran into her parents’ bedroom screaming that the children in the picture were fighting. The next night the children in the picture were outside the door. The next night, the head of the family set the video camera to be activated by movement in the room where the painting hung. The video camera went off several times.
The painting was put up for auction on eBay. Soon, eBay administrators began receiving alarming letters with complaints about deteriorating health, loss of consciousness, and even heart attacks. There was a warning on eBay (as well as in this post), but people are notoriously curious and many ignored the warning.
The painting was sold for 1025 USD, the starting price was 199 USD. The page with the painting was visited over 30,000 times, but mostly just for fun. It was bought by Kim Smith, who lived in a small town near Chicago. He was just looking for something for his newly renovated art gallery on the Internet. When he came across "Hands Resist Him" ​​he initially thought that it was painted in the forties and would be perfect for him as an exhibit.
This would have been the end of the story, but letters now began to arrive at Smith's address. Many of them were, as before, with stories about feeling unwell after viewing the film, but there were also those who wrote about the evil emanating from it. Others demanded that it simply be burned. Even Ed and Lorraine Warren, famous for exorcizing demons at the Amityville House in 1979, offered his services. Some even recalled the famous Satillo murder in the forested hills of California. The ghosts of two children are said to haunt the house in the hills. Psychics claimed: “We saw a boy. He wore a light T-shirt and shorts. His sister was always in the shadows. He seemed to protect her. Their names were Tom and Laura and they looked exactly like the children depicted in the picture.

A painting painted by this author later. Another, less well-known and outwardly unremarkable painting, the “arsonist,” hangs in the Royal Museum of Edinburgh. This is a portrait of an elderly man with his arm outstretched. According to legend, sometimes the fingers on the hand of an old man painted in oil begin to move. And the one who saw this unusual phenomenon will definitely die from fire in the very near future. Two famous victims of the portrait are Lord Seymour and sea captain Belfast. They both claimed to have seen the old man move his fingers, and both subsequently died in the fire. Superstitious townspeople even demanded that the director of the museum remove the dangerous painting out of harm's way, but he, of course, did not agree - it is this nondescript portrait of no particular value that attracts most visitors.
Having looked up the archives, it was found out that the name of the author of the “maddening picture” is not real, but, so to speak, a creative pseudonym.
History is silent about the true name and biography of the artist, but according to certain reports and comments from representatives of the California state authorities, while still a boy he experienced strange events for which no explanation has been found to this day..."It was terrible! When we entered the house, there was blood everywhere ...there was an eerie feeling as if someone was following us...after searching the first floor of the house nothing was found, except for bloody stains on the floor and walls...on the second floor in the bedroom the bodies of Mrs. and Mr. Lawrence were found were so disfigured that they could only be identified by their dental bite and the tattoo on Mr. Lawrence’s forearm... but the creepiest thing we saw was in the attic, or rather it was the attic floor, converted into a nursery... while still on the second floor we heard a quiet but very a beautiful melody, it came just from the nursery... it was the only room in the whole house from where signs of life came. Entering the room we found that it was empty, the light was on and on the floor between the children's beds there was an open music box, which made the same melody... traces of blood led to the balcony. The glass door leading there was locked, and the metal handle was extremely hot. The glass was smeared with blood on the back side, so it was impossible to see what was happening on the other side. Then we broke the glass in front horror appeared before us! A little boy was sitting at the balcony railing, clutching his sister in his arms. She was dead. Her joints were broken, and her eye sockets were missing. The boy was unharmed... except for strange spots on his legs... these were burns in the form hands...small, the size of a child's palm..."

2. During Pushkin’s time, the portrait of Maria Lopukhina was one of the main “horror stories”. The girl lived a short and unhappy life, and after painting the portrait she died of consumption. Her father Ivan Lopukhin was a famous mystic and master of the Masonic lodge. That is why rumors spread that he had managed to lure the spirit of his deceased daughter into this portrait. And that if young girls look at the picture, they will soon die. According to the salon gossips, the portrait of Maria destroyed at least ten noblewomen of marriageable age...
The rumors were put to rest by the philanthropist Tretyakov, who in 1880 bought the portrait for his gallery. There was no significant mortality among female visitors. The conversations died down. But the sediment remained!

3. Impressionist Claude Monet painted a landscape with water lilies. When the artist and his friends were celebrating the completion of the painting, a small fire broke out in the workshop. The flame was quickly doused with wine and they did not attach any importance to it. But in vain...
The painting hung in a cabaret in Montmartre for just a month. And then one night the place burned down. But “Lilies” managed to be saved.
The painting was bought by Parisian philanthropist Oscar Schmitz. A year later his house burned down. The fire started in the office, where the ill-fated painting hung. It miraculously survived.
Another victim of Monet's landscape was the New York Museum of Modern Art. “Water Lilies” were transported here in 1958. Four months later, the fire here was not childish. And the damned picture was heavily charred. Now NASA specialists are ready to restore it using space technology. Maybe it’s not worth it, huh?!

4. A masterpiece by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch was stolen in broad daylight from a museum in Oslo. A very tasty morsel: the painting costs 70 million dollars! But something tells me that the villains are unlikely to have a chance to squander this money. After all, “Scream” takes revenge on those who offend it.
The museum tells how one worker accidentally dropped a painting. From that day on, he began to have terrible headaches. The pain became more and more intense, and the guy committed suicide. And a museum visitor simply touched “The Scream” with his finger. And what do you think? In the evening, a fire started in his house and a man burned alive...

5. Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder wrote “The Adoration of the Magi” for two years. He “copied” the Virgin Mary from his cousin. She was a barren woman, for which she received constant blows from her husband. It was she who, as simple medieval Dutch gossiped, “infected” the picture. “The Magi” was bought by private collectors four times. And each time the same story was repeated: no children were born in a family for 10-12 years...
Finally, in 1637, the architect Jacob van Kampen bought the painting. By that time he already had three children, so the curse did not particularly frighten him.

6. The artist and author of the painting “The Crying Boy,” the father of the child depicted in it, mocked his son by lighting matches in front of the baby’s face. The fact is that the boy was deathly afraid of fire. And the man thus tried to achieve the brightness, vitality and naturalness of the canvas. The boy was crying - the artist was drawing. One day the kid shouted at his father: “Burn yourself!” A month later, the child died of pneumonia. And a couple of weeks later, the artist’s charred body was found in his own house next to a painting of a crying boy that had survived the fire.

7. Probably the most famous bad picture on the Internet with the following story: A certain schoolgirl (Japanese is often mentioned) drew this picture before cutting her veins (throwing herself out of a window, taking pills, hanging herself, drowning herself in a bathtub). If you look at her for 5 minutes in a row, the girl will change (her eyes turn red, her hair turns black, fangs appear).
In fact, it is clear that the picture was clearly not drawn by hand, as many people like to claim. Although no one gives clear answers to how this picture appeared.

8. Now it hangs modestly without a frame in one of the shops in Vinnitsa. “Rain Woman” is the most expensive of all works: it costs $500. According to the sellers, the painting has already been bought three times and then returned. Clients explain that they dream about her. And someone even says that they know this lady, but they don’t remember where. And everyone who has ever looked into her white eyes will forever remember the feeling of a rainy day, silence, anxiety and fear.
Its author, Vinnytsia artist Svetlana Telets, told where the unusual painting came from. “In 1996, I graduated from Odessa Art University. Grekova,” recalls Svetlana. “And six months before the birth of “Woman,” it always seemed to me that someone was constantly watching me. I drove such thoughts away from myself, and then one day, by the way, not at all rainy, I sat in front of a blank canvas and thought about what to draw. And suddenly I clearly saw the contours of a woman, her face, colors, shades. In an instant I noticed all the details of the image. I wrote the main thing quickly - I finished it in about five hours. It seemed as if someone was guiding my hand. And then I finished painting for another month.”
Arriving in Vinnitsa, Svetlana exhibited the painting in a local art salon. Art connoisseurs came up to her every now and then and shared the same thoughts that she herself had during her work.
“It was interesting to observe,” says the artist, “how subtly a thing can materialize a thought and inspire it in other people.”
A few years ago the first customer appeared. A lonely businesswoman walked around the halls for a long time, looking closely. Having bought “Woman”, I hung it in my bedroom.
Two weeks later, a night call rang in Svetlana’s apartment: “Please pick her up. I can not sleep. It seems that there is someone in the apartment besides me. I even took it off the wall and hid it behind the closet, but I still can’t do it.”
Then a second buyer appeared. Then a young man bought the painting. And I also couldn’t stand it for long. He brought it to the artist himself. And he didn’t even take the money back.
“I dream about her,” he complained. - Every night he appears and walks around me like a shadow. I'm starting to go crazy. I'm afraid of this picture!
The third buyer, having learned about the notoriety of the “Woman,” simply waved it off. He even said that he thought the sinister lady’s face was cute. And she will probably get along with him.
Didn't get along.
“At first I didn’t notice how white her eyes were,” he recalled. - And then they started appearing everywhere. Headaches began, causeless worries. Do I need it?!
So “Rain Woman” returned to the artist again. Rumor spread throughout the city that this painting was cursed. It can drive you crazy in one night. The artist herself is no longer happy that she painted such horror. However, Sveta does not lose optimism yet:
- Each painting is born for a specific person. I believe that there will be someone for whom “Woman” was written. Someone is looking for her - just like she is looking for him.


9. Diego Velazquez "Venus at the Mirror"
The painting “Venus at the Mirror” by Don Diego Velazquez was bought by a Madrid merchant. And immediately a dark streak began in his life: ships with goods sank or were robbed by greedy pirates. The merchant went bankrupt. And he was forced to sell all his property. Including a painting by Velazquez.
"Venus" was bought by another merchant. And trouble came to him: a warehouse with goods in the port burned down from a lightning strike.
The Velazquez painting went to a wealthy moneylender. Three days later, thieves broke into his house. They robbed the chests of gold and stabbed the owner.
The moneylender's descendants could not sell the painting for a long time. She wandered through museums and private collections. And in 1914, Venus, exhibited at the National Gallery in London, was cut by a mad tourist...

10. At one time, the painting also amazed the Russian Emperor Alexander III. He did not hesitate to pay 35 thousand rubles for it. This was an unheard of amount at that time. But then everything turned upside down: the painting was suddenly called cursed. What happened to her?
Repin worked on the masterpiece for more than 13 years. The prototypes of the main characters of the picture were... the artist’s friends. If only they knew how this would turn out for them! Thus, the head of Kiev Mikhail Dragomirov, who posed in the image of the chieftain Sirko, turned from a sweet, cheerful person into a binge drunkard and domestic tyrant. After a quarrel with him, two of his sons committed suicide, and his only daughter went crazy.
A brilliant scientist and philanthropist Vasily Tarnovsky (in Repin’s painting there is a gloomy Cossack with a donkey) went bankrupt and ended his days in a shelter for beggars. Another hero of the picture, a smiling clerk in glasses, the famous historian Dmitry Yavornitsky, was declared politically unreliable and spent several years in exile in Tashkent. After a series of these misfortunes, the frightened Repin hastily removed from the canvas the figurine of a little Cossack woman, which he painted from his own son...

11. The relatives of the boy Vasya were categorically against the artist, who had been so persuading them, to paint Vasya in one of his paintings. They were firmly convinced that this was a great misfortune. The boy still posed, but the result is this: Perov’s painting “Troika,” where Vasya walks in the middle, became very famous, and the boy suddenly died a very short time later.

12.The famous "La Gioconda" by Leonardo da Vinci not only delights, but also frightens people. In addition to assumptions, fiction, legends about the work itself and about the smile of Mona Lisa, there is a theory that this most famous portrait in the world has an extremely negative effect on the beholder. For example, more than a hundred cases have been officially registered in which visitors who looked at the painting for a long time lost consciousness. The most famous case occurred with the French writer Stendhal, who fainted while admiring a masterpiece. It is known that Mona Lisa herself, who posed for the artist, died young, at the age of 28. And the great master Leonardo himself did not work on any of his creations as long and carefully as on the La Gioconda. For six years, until his death, Leonardo rewrote and corrected the painting, but he never fully achieved what he wanted.


13. One of the brightest and most extraordinary geniuses of Russian painting, Mikhail Vrubel, has works that are also associated with the personal tragedies of the artist himself. Thus, the portrait of his beloved son Savva was painted by him shortly before the child’s death. Moreover, the boy fell ill unexpectedly and died suddenly. And “The Defeated Demon” had a detrimental effect on the psyche and health of Vrubel himself.
The artist could not tear himself away from the picture, he continued to add to the face of the defeated Spirit, and also change the color. “The Defeated Demon” was already hanging at the exhibition, and Vrubel kept coming into the hall, not paying attention to the visitors, sat down in front of the painting and continued to work, as if possessed. Those close to him became concerned about his condition, and he was examined by the famous Russian psychiatrist Bekhterev. The diagnosis was terrible - tabes spinal cord, near madness and death. Vrubel was admitted to the hospital, but the treatment did not help, and he soon died.


14. One student wrote a post about her on his blog in 2006. Its essence boiled down to the fact that, according to a professor at one of the Moscow universities, there is one hundred percent, but not obvious sign in the picture, by which it is immediately clear that the artist is crazy. And even supposedly based on this sign, you can immediately make a correct diagnosis. But, as the student wrote, the cunning professor did not discover the sign, but only gave vague hints. And so, they say, people, help whoever can, because I can’t find it myself, I’m all exhausted and tired. It’s not hard to imagine what started here. The post spread throughout the network, many users rushed to look for the answer and scold the professor. The picture gained wild popularity, as did the student’s blog and the professor’s name. No one was able to solve the riddle, and in the end, when everyone was tired of this story, they decided:

1. There is no sign, and the professor deliberately “misdirected” the students so that they would not skip lectures. 2. The professor is a psycho himself (even facts were cited that he was actually treated abroad). 3. Kuplin associated himself with the snowman who looms in the background of the picture, and this is the main solution to the mystery. 4. There was no professor, and the whole story was a brilliant flash mob.

By the way, many original guesses for this sign were also given, but none of them was recognized as correct. The story gradually faded away, although even now you can sometimes come across echoes of it on the RuNet. As for the picture, it really makes an eerie impression and causes unpleasant sensations.

Today there is so much talk about unidentified and paranormal phenomena that you involuntarily ask the question: “Where is the lie and where is the truth?” Our world is so saturated with scary stories about what is impossible to see and hear, but you can feel for yourself: you will soon see for yourself that the most terrible and creepy things are very close - they are hidden in works of art!

Paintings are passed down from generation to generation; they bring us a piece of history and allow us to touch the beautiful. It is believed that each artistic work lives its own life and has a soul. Often museum curators, exhibition organizers, and owners of rare paintings share their fears:

• some feel like someone is watching them from the side;
• others complain that the image of a person or animal from the canvas came to them in nightmares;
• the third physically feel the negativity, pain, fear or horror emanating from the paintings.

Can paintings really hear, see and act? Get ready, the following stories will make even skeptical readers wince.

Cursed painting "Mona Lisa de Gioconda"

"Mona Lisa de Gioconda" – one of the most famous paintings in the whole world, but its beauty evokes not only admiration: in fact, Mona’s beautiful smile can cause in anyone who admired her for a long time a feeling of panic, insane fear and aggression. More than a hundred cases have already been recorded when, from one glance at the picture, people fainted or lost their human appearance, falling into hysterics. The truth about the history preceding the creation of this portrait is not known to anyone. It is only known that the great creator Leonardo da Vinci did not work on any painting for so long and diligently - for 6 whole years, and then corrected and changed details until his death. The model, Mona Lisa, left the world of the living for unknown reasons, not even reaching the age of 30.

Cursed painting "Crying Boy"

Rumor has it that the painting “The Crying Boy” is also cursed.

The story is this: Bragolin, a Spanish artist, was going to paint a portrait of a boy with tears in his eyes, and he chose his own son as the sitter. But the child could not cry as ordered and the father began to take harsh measures, forcing the boy to cry - the kid was very afraid of fire, so matches were burned in front of his face, tears rolled from the children's eyes, and the cruel adult continued his work. After prolonged torture, the boy could no longer hold on and cried out, choking with tears: “Damn you, burn yourself.” And soon the words came true, the boy fell ill with pneumonia and died a couple of weeks later, and his father burned to death for unknown reasons in his house.

"Melancholic Princess - Girl Illusion"

“Japanese Girl” is the most famous painting on social networks, accompanied by scary and mystical stories: a schoolgirl who decided to commit suicide drew this image before leaving this world.

If you look at this picture for about 5 minutes, the girl’s eyes will turn red, she will have fangs, and her hair will change color. Scary, isn't it? Believe in it, laugh or decide to check it out - decide for yourself, but we do not recommend it, since nothing is known about the consequences of this “acquaintance”.

Painting “Hands Resist Him”: a mystical story

Another “cursed” painting that became widely known was the work “Hands Resist Him”, painted by Californian surrealist artist Bill Stoneham. The artist painted it in 1972 from a childhood photograph of him and his younger sister standing in front of the house.

The painting itself depicts a boy with blurry facial features, next to him is a doll made the size of a child. They stand against the backdrop of a glass door, behind which one can see a dark sky and a large moon. Small children's hands are pressed against the glass of the door on the street side.

There are many creepy stories associated with this picture. The first art critic to see and appreciate the work soon died suddenly.

After which the painting was bought by an American actor, whose life was tragically cut short. After his death, the work disappeared from view for some time, but then one family accidentally found it in a trash heap. The parents, who picked up the terrible masterpiece, decided to hang it in the children's room. After which their little daughter began running into their bedroom in horror every night and complaining that the children in the picture were fighting. My father decided to install a surveillance camera with a motion sensor in the room, and it went off several times during the night.

After which, the family hastened to get rid of the painting, and soon Hands Resist Him was put up for online auction. A large number of letters began to arrive at the auction organizers with complaints that when viewing this picture, people began to feel bad.

As a result, the owner of a private art gallery bought the work. After the purchase, numerous letters began to arrive at his address with threats and demands to destroy the damned painting. Two American exorcists approached him with an offer of their services. And psychics, when looking at the picture, confidently report that evil emanates from it.

Painting "The Scream" by Edvard Munch

Many people who in one way or another came into contact with the painting “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, the value of which, according to experts, is $70 million, found themselves in various unpleasant situations: they fell ill, became depressed, quarreled with loved ones, became victims of accidents, and some they even died suddenly. All these incidents gave the film “Scream” a bad reputation.

One day, a museum employee accidentally dropped a masterpiece. Some time passed and he began to have severe headaches. Migraine attacks became more frequent and more severe. The man could not stand such torment and committed suicide.

Several months passed and they decided to hang the painting from one wall to another. The worker who was doing this accidentally let go of the masterpiece and it fell to the floor. Literally a week later he gets into a terrible car accident, as a result of which he received numerous bruises and fractures.

One of the museum visitors touched the painting with his finger. Two days later, a fire started in his house, in which he burned alive.

The life of the artist Edvard Munch himself was a series of shocks and tragedies - illness, death of loved ones, madness.

He was born in 1863. When he was 5 years old, his mother died of tuberculosis. Nine years later, his beloved sister Sophia dies from a serious illness. A few years later, brother Andreas passes away. Doctors diagnose the artist's younger sister with schizophrenia.

In the early 90s, Edvard Munch suffered a severe nervous breakdown and underwent electroshock treatment for a long time.

The artist was never married; thoughts of sex terrified him. He died at the age of 81. Munch left a huge creative legacy to the city of Oslo, where he lived: 4,500 sketches, 1,200 paintings and 18 thousand graphic works. But the most famous painting to this day remains “The Scream.”

Do not forget that a bad thought or word spoken in haste can do terrible things, bring about a curse or damage. Thoughts are material, and all fear can also be part of them. Evil really exists and it often lurks behind a beautiful mask.