List of reportedly haunted paintings

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The following works of art have been described as being haunted or cursed in some way.

Contents

Portrait of Bernardo de Gálvez

Galvez's portrait Bernardo de Galvez.jpg
Gálvez's portrait

The painting of the Spanish General Bernardo de Gálvez (1746–1786) at the end of a hallway in Hotel Galvez in Galveston, Texas, is said to have supernatural influence over photographs taken of it. Some claim to see a skull in flash photography of the painting, [1] and according to local folklore, visitors must politely ask permission of the ghost to take a picture of the portrait, or else the photo will be ruined upon development. [2] [3]

Portrait of Henrietta Nelson

William Johnson's portrait of Henrietta Nelson (c. 1780) Henrietta Nelson by William Johnson (c.1780).jpg
William Johnson's portrait of Henrietta Nelson (c. 1780)

Henrietta Nelson (1734–1816) died by falling down a flight of stairs in her home at Yaxley Hall in the English town of Eye, and was buried in a mausoleum on the property, according to her wishes. However, years later, new owners moved in and destroyed the mausoleum, moving her remains to a nearby church. [4] According to legend, Nelson has haunted the grounds ever since, trying to return home to her desired resting place. [5]

A portrait of Nelson by William Johnson has purportedly become imbued with her spirit, with her ghost following it even when moved out of the house. Viewers have reported her face in the painting changing shape, and a pale figure with identical clothing walking the grounds. [4]

Man Proposes, God Disposes

Man Proposes, God Disposes Manproposesgoddisposes.jpg
Man Proposes, God Disposes

Edwin Landseer's 1864 painting Man Proposes, God Disposes is believed to be haunted, and a bad omen. [6] According to urban myth, a student of Royal Holloway college once committed suicide during exams by stabbing a pencil into their eye, writing "The polar bears made me do it" on their exam paper. [7] There is, however, no university record of a death in the picture gallery. [8]

Another legend among students dating back to at least the 1960s is that anyone sitting in front of the painting during an exam will fail it. This has led to teachers covering the painting with a Union Jack when student examinations are ongoing. [8]

Mi Novia

Portrait of a Lady by Juan Luna Portrait of a Lady by J. Luna.jpg
Portrait of a Lady by Juan Luna

Legend says this undated portrait by Juan Luna, also known as Portrait of a Lady, is of the artist's wife, Paz Pardo de Tavera, who Juan Luna murdered. [9]

According to the legend, the painting is now possessed by the spirit of Paz, who brings misfortune upon its owners. Past owners have died in car crashes, been forced into bankruptcy, and experienced miscarriage, among other reported sorrows. [10] During the opening night of a 1987 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, the spotlight bulb over the painting exploded. [10]

The woman depicted in the painting is believed to be Angela Duche, a favorite model of the painter who was neither married to nor murdered by him. [10]

Death and the Child

Munch's Death and the Child (1899) from the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen Edvard Munch - Death and the Child (1899), Kunsthalle Bremen.jpg
Munch's Death and the Child (1899) from the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen

According to urban legend, a particular 1899 copy of Edvard Munch's painting Death and the Child (sometimes known as The Dead Mother [11] ) is cursed. Viewers have described the horrified girl's eyes following them as they move, and hearing a soft rustling sound (usually attributed to the eponymous mother's bed sheets) when near the painting. Previous owners of the painting are said to have described the girl disappearing altogether from the canvas. [11]

Munch's mother and sister died of tuberculosis when he was a child, and memories of that trauma were a recurring motif throughout his work. [12] Munch was also influenced by the nihilist Hans Jæger, who urged him to paint his own emotional and psychological state (described as 'soul painting'), leading to his distinctive style. [13]

Since 1918 the painting has been in the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen. [11]

The paintings of Arshile Gorky

Gorky's The Artist and his Mother Arshile Gorky, The Artist and His Mother.jpg
Gorky's The Artist and his Mother

The paintings of Arshile Gorky, created between 1904 and 1938, are rumored to be cursed, with paintings reportedly falling from walls, catching on fire, and being visited by a black-haired ghost in a blue overcoat. On March 1, 1962, American Airlines Flight 1, carrying 87 passengers, 8 crew members, and 15 abstract paintings by Gorky, crashed into a swamp two minutes after takeoff, killing everyone on board and destroying the paintings. [14]

According to Anthonie Holslag, a researcher studying the aftermath of the Armenian genocide, the painter's work has come to symbolize "everything we lost" for many Armenian survivors, as well as offering identity and a source of strength. [15]

The Crying Boy

Prints of The Crying Boy by 20th century painter Giovanni Bragolin were blamed for a series of house fires in the 1980s, after prints were found undamaged amidst the ruins of multiple burned houses. [16] [17]

Research at the Building Research Establishment concluded that the prints had been treated with a varnish containing fire retardant, and that the string holding the painting to the wall would be the first to deteriorate, resulting in the painting landing face down on the floor and thus being protected. [18]

The Hands Resist Him

Characters in Bill Stoneham's 1972 painting The Hands Resist Him are said to move or leave the painting during the night. [17] [19]

It is on display at the Perception Gallery in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Love Letters

Richard King's painting Love Letters (painted circa 1990) is said to be haunted by Samantha Houston, a four-year-old girl who fell to her death in the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas where the painting hangs.

As a result, the expression of the girl in the painting is said to change [19] whenever one looks away. Guests have also reported dizziness, nausea, and feeling like they are floating or falling while viewing the painting.

The painting is a replica of an original painting by the same name by Charles Trevor Garland  [ d ] (1855–1906)

Pogo the Clown

A signed 1990s self-portrait by the serial killer John Wayne Gacy, depicting his alter-ego, "Pogo the Clown". Musician Nikki Stone purchased the painting for $3,000 in 2001, but began to regret the purchase when his dog died and his mother got cancer, which he attributed to the malicious influence of the painting. A friend offered to keep the painting, and soon after the friend's neighbor was killed in a car crash. A second friend then took it for storage, and later attempted suicide. The painting was never hung up, and was given to a local art dealer. [20]

The Stagecraft

Also known as The Hanging Man, this painting is claimed to be responsible for a series of unexplained and dangerous incidents.[ citation needed ] The painting is based on a photo taken by James Kidd in 1994.

The Rain Woman

Svetlana Telets, an artist from Vinnytsia, painted The Rain Woman in 1996 after reportedly feeling like she was constantly being watched for six months. According to the artist, she was sitting in front of a blank canvas, when a clear vision of the final painting appeared to her. Feeling like "someone was controlling" her hand, she sketched the composition for five hours, then spent another month refining the details. [21]

After displaying it in a local art salon, multiple people successively bought the painting, only to return it to the seller after describing a figure following them in their homes and dreams. One temporary owner described white eyes appearing everywhere he looked, and returned the painting with an offer to pay back half the purchase price, fearing he might drown in the eyes if kept for any longer. [21] The piece was eventually purchased by the musician Sergei Skachkov in 2008, [22] though reportedly his wife later hid the painting after seeing a ghostly figure walk around their apartment at night. [23]

According to Archpriest Vitaly Goloskevich of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Vinnytsia, "A person has a spirit and a soul. There are truly spiritual works of art, and there are soulful ones. And the painting you are talking about represents just such soulful art. And it doesn't come from God.... The artist puts into the work the mood in which he was at the time of his writing. And it is not known who led the artist at that moment." [21]

The Scariest Picture on the Internet (REAL)

An early internet creepypasta, a video from the 2000s titled The Scariest Picture on the Internet (REAL), claimed to show a portrait that had been painted by a Japanese woman shortly before committing suicide. The text accompanying the video claims that people who stared into its eyes for more than five minutes had also killed themselves. [24]

The Anguished Man

The Anguished Man is a painting by an unknown artist. In 2010, owner Sean Robinson uploaded a YouTube video which included a text description of how he had heard “strange noises and crying", and seen the figure of a man appear. Guests reportedly had nosebleeds and experienced extreme nausea while looking at the painting. [25]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edvard Munch</span> Norwegian painter (1863–1944)

Edvard Munch was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work, The Scream, has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arshile Gorky</span> Armenian-American painter (1904–1948)

Arshile Gorky was an Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of his life as a national of the United States. Along with Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, Gorky has been hailed as one of the most powerful American painters of the 20th century. The suffering and loss he experienced in the Armenian genocide had crucial influence at Gorky's development as an artist.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elaine de Kooning</span> American expressionist painter (1918–1988)

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<i>Madonna</i> (Munch) Art composition by Edvard Munch

Madonna is the usual title given to several versions of a composition by the Norwegian expressionist painter Edvard Munch showing a bare-breasted half-length female figure created between 1892 and 1895 using oil paint on canvas. He also produced versions in print form.

The year 1892 in art involved some significant events.

The year 1895 in art involved some significant events.

<i>The Hands Resist Him</i> Painting by Bill Stoneham

The Hands Resist Him is a painting that was created by artist Bill Stoneham in 1972. It depicts a young boy and a female doll standing in front of a glass paneled door, against which many hands are pressed. According to Stoneham, the boy is based on a photograph of himself at age five. The doorway is a representation of the dividing line between the waking world and the world of fantasy and impossibilities, while the doll is a guide that will escort the boy through it. The titular hands represent alternate lives or possibilities. The painting became the subject of an urban legend and a viral internet meme in February 2000 when it was posted for sale on eBay along with a description implying that it was haunted.

<i>The Sick Child</i> (Munch) Painting series by Edvard Munch

The Sick Child is the title given to a group of six paintings and a number of lithographs, drypoints and etchings completed by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch between 1885 and 1926. All record a moment before the death of his older sister Johanne Sophie (1862–1877) from tuberculosis at 15. Munch returned to this deeply traumatic event repeatedly in his art over a period of more than 40 years. In the works, Sophie is typically shown on her deathbed accompanied by a dark-haired, grieving woman assumed to be her aunt Karen; the studies often show her in a cropped head shot. In all the painted versions Sophie is sitting in a chair, obviously suffering from pain, propped by a large white pillow, looking towards an ominous curtain likely intended as a symbol of death. She is shown with a haunted expression, clutching hands with a grief-stricken older woman who seems to want to comfort her but whose head is bowed as if she cannot bear to look the younger girl in the eye.

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Mi Novia is a painting by Filipino painter Juan Luna. Created in the academic-style, it was in an exhibition hors concours or not for the purpose of competing for a prize. Instead it was a painting that was aimed to please the viewing public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludvig Karsten</span> Norwegian painter

Ludvig Karsten was a Norwegian painter. He was a neo-impressionist influenced by Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse and contemporary French painting. He first participated at the Autumn exhibition in Kristiania in 1901, and had his first separate exhibition in 1904. He is represented at museums in many Scandinavian cities, including several paintings at the National Gallery of Norway. Karsten was known for his bohemian lifestyle and quick temper.

<i>Love and Pain</i> (Munch) Painting by Edvard Munch

Love and Pain is an 1895 painting by Edvard Munch; it has also been called Vampire, though not by Munch. The painting depicts a man and woman embracing, with the woman kissing the man on his neck. Munch painted six different versions of the same subject between 1893 and 1895. Three versions are in the collection of the Munch Museum in Oslo, one is held by the Gothenburg Museum of Art, one is owned by a private collector, and the final work is unaccounted for. Munch painted several additional versions and derivatives of the work later in his career.

<i>Model by the Wicker Chair</i> Painting by Edvard Munch (c. 1920)

Model by the Wicker Chair is a 1919–1921 painting by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch that is in the collection of the Munch Museum in Oslo.

<i>Inger on the Beach</i> 1889 painting by Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch

Inger on the Beach is a painting by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. It was created in the summer of 1889, at Åsgårdstrand and is a portrait of Munch's youngest sister Inger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Mudocci</span> English violinist and Edvard Munchs friend (1872–1953)

Eva Mudocci (1872–1953), born Evangeline Hope Muddock, was an English violinist, who toured Europe with the pianist Bella Edwards. She was the friend and probably lover of the artist Edvard Munch.

<i>The Anguished Man</i> Supposedly cursed painting by an unknown artist

The Anguished Man is a painting created by an unknown artist. Owner Sean Robinson, from Cumbria, England, claims to have inherited the painting from his grandmother, who told him that the artist who created the painting had mixed his own blood into the paint and died by suicide soon after finishing the work. The painting has been characterized as being supposedly haunted.

<i>Self-Portrait with Cigarette</i> Painting by Edvard Munch

Self-Portrait with Cigarette is an 1895 painting by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. Munch's use of the cigarette and physical decay as a rejection of societal values aroused controversy following the self-portrait's 1895 exhibition. As of 2021, the work is held by the National Gallery in Oslo.

References

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