Famous artists of our time, who lacked the brushes and paints to express their genius, delight and shock not only with their works, but also with how exactly they created them.

Paints, pencils, brushes and canvas - that's probably all you need to create a stunning work of art. Oh yes, more talent! These artists undoubtedly have it. After all, they didn’t even need ordinary materials to write unique masterpieces. Look what can happen when a genius takes on the task of drawing.

1. Jet art by Tarinan von Anhalt

Florida princess Tarinan von Anhalt does not use brushes for her paintings. They are created using... an airplane. How does she do it? In fact, the artist simply throws bottles of paint, and the jet thrust of the aircraft engine “creates” a unique pattern on the canvas. Did you have to think of something like that? But jet art is not her idea. The princess “borrowed” the jet art technique from her husband Jurgen von Anhalt. Creating such pictures is not so easy, and sometimes even life-threatening: air currents reach enormous speeds and strength, they can be compared to hurricane winds, and the temperature of such a “hurricane” can exceed 250 degrees Celsius. Risk combined with creativity allows the princess to receive about $50,000 for one of her creations.

2. Ani Kay and artistic torment

A copy of the painting by the great Leonardo da Vinci " last supper" Indian artist Ani Kay wrote in his own language. The most common paints were used. As a result of many years of creativity, Ani constantly poisons her body, experiencing symptoms of intoxication: headaches, nausea and weakness. But the stubborn Indian is ready to accept torture for the sake of art again and again.

3. Bloody paintings by Vinicius Quesada

Vinicius Quesada is a scandalous Brazilian artist whose paintings are literally given to him with his own blood and... urine. The Brazilian’s three-color masterpieces are worth a lot to himself: every 60 days, Vinicia spends 450 milliliters of blood to paint paintings that shock and amaze the public.

4. Works of menstrual art by Lani Beloso

And again - blood. The Hawaiian artist also does not accept colors. Her paintings are created with her own menstrual blood. No matter how strange it may sound, Lani’s works are truly feminine, what can I say. It all started out of desperation. One day, a young girl suffering from menorrhagia, deciding to find out how much blood she actually loses during pathologically heavy periods, began to draw a picture from her own secretions. Whole year During each menstruation she did the same, thus creating a cycle of 13 paintings.

5. Ben Wilson and the chewy masterpieces

Artist Ben Wilson from London decided not to use ordinary paints or canvas and began creating his paintings from chewing gum, which he found on the streets of London. The cute creations of the “chewing gum master” decorate the gray asphalt of the city, and Ben’s portfolio contains photos of his unusual paintings.

6. Finger art by Judith Brown

This artist is just having fun creating such unusual paintings with tiny charcoal particles and her fingers, she doesn't even consider her work to be art. But fingers instead of brushes and charcoal instead of paint - so unusual and, you see, beautiful. The name of the series of paintings by Judith is also beautiful – Diamond Dust.

7. Self-taught artist Paolo Troilo

The master of monochrome also paints with his fingers, using acrylic paints. Once a successful Italian businessman, Paolo Troilo was voted Italy's Best Creative of 2007. Without a single brush he paints so realistic paintings that sometimes they cannot be distinguished from black and white photographs.

8. Automotive masterpieces by Ian Cook

It’s not for nothing that they say that in every genius lives Small child. The young painter from Great Britain Ian Cook is a clear confirmation of this. He paints pictures as if he were playing with the controls of a toy car. 40 colorful canvases depicting cars were created using paints, but instead of brushes in the artist’s hands there are remote-controlled toys on wheels.

9. Tom's Otman and Delicious Art

You just want to take these pictures and lick them. After all, they were written not with paints, but with real ice cream. The creator of such “tasty” painting is Baghdad resident Othman Toma. Inspired by the delicacy, the artist photographs his finished works along with “paints”: orange, berry chocolate.

10. Elisabetta Rogai – the sophistication of aged wine

Italian artist Elisabetta Rogai also uses delicious colors for her creations. She has white and red wine and canvas in her arsenal. What comes out of this? Incredible paintings that change their shades over time, just like an old, aged wine changes its aroma and taste. Live works!

11. Hong Yi's Spotted Paintings

What could be worse for an exemplary housewife than traces of coffee cups on a white tablecloth? But, apparently, the Shanghai artist Hong Yi is not an exemplary housewife. While creating her paintings, she leaves spots like this on the canvas every now and then. And not because she likes to drink coffee while working, but because this is how she paints, without using brushes or paints.

12. Coffee painting and beer art by Karen Eland

Artist Karen Eland also tried to paint using coffee instead of paints. And she did it quite well. Reproductions of the most famous works, made with coffee liquid, look like real paintings. The only difference is the brown shades and Karen's signature sign in the form of a cup of coffee at each work.

Subsequently experimenting with liqueur, beer and tea (no, she did not drink them), Eland concluded that her paintings came out best from beer. A bottle of intoxicating drink replaces watercolors for one canvas.

13. Kisses from Natalie Irish

You must love art so much that, without ceasing to create, you kiss your work every now and then! These are exactly the feelings Natalie Irish experiences. Big love– there’s no other way to describe her paintings, painted not with brushes and paints, but with lips and lipstick. Several dozen shades of lipstick, several hundred kisses - and such masterpieces are obtained.

14. Kira Ein Warzeji - breasts instead of hands

American Kira Ein Warzeji also put a lot of love into art - her magical paintings written on the chest. It’s hard to even imagine how many colors the artist poured onto her chest. But not in vain!

15. Sex art by Tim Patch

He takes the canvas and paints, but no brushes. And what do you think the Australian artist uses to paint his canvases? Yes, the very place that he is not at all shy about. Tim's manhood is just right. At least his pictures painted with his penis are wonderful. It must be said that the artist uses not only the main male genital organ, but also the “fifth point” as a drawing tool. With her help, Tim designs the background of the picture. The master himself does not take his work seriously, and even his pseudonym is frivolous - Pricasso. Imitating outrageousness the brilliant Picasso, the artist shocks exhibition visitors not only with his paintings, but also with the clarity of the process of their creation.

I'll start with Caravaggio. It is simply impossible to make a TOP without starting with Michelangelo Merisi, called Caravaggio.
He was a Master, a super master, he was a genius. He painted in a harsh, simply cinematic realism; looking at his canvases, the viewer finds himself on the streets of Rome at the beginning of the 17th century.

And on these meager, poor streets Caravaggio was dangerous person. Aggressive and angry, without parting with his sword, he constantly got into trouble - a blow from a waiter, slander from his rivals. Eventually, as was inevitable, he killed a man in a brawl in the square and was forced to flee to Rome. While traveling, he painted works that seem to be full of guilt, including his self-portrait with the severed head of Goliath. Look into his eyes: there is despair and awareness of guilt in them. They contain the tragedy of murder.

But Caravaggio's reputation as a criminal may not be so bad. In any case, he was not what is now called a repeat offender.)) Street fights were not uncommon at that time, and the repentance that he created is the creation of a great artist.

2. Benvenuto Cellini

But not so Benvenuto Cellini, who in the 16th century killed repeatedly without remorse and without punishment.

He stabbed his brother's killer. He also killed a jeweler's rival and recounted these crimes in his autobiography. He fled, of course, fearing retribution, but society's admiration for his talent protected him. In those days, geniuses could actually escape the scene of a crime.

3. Banksy

Graffiti by definition is against the law, and Banksy in the UK did brilliant career in completely prohibited places. Part of his success is his phenomenal ability to evade arrest and his famous anonymity. His works, which were once washed away and painted over by angry police officers and workers, are now seen as precious treasures that will be preserved for posterity.

4. Egon Schiele

In 1912, this dangerously erotic Austrian artist was arrested for allegedly having sex with a teenage girl. And the real motive for the arrest was the horror of a small bourgeois town that saw the maestro’s work, where models reclined in their underwear.

5. Picasso

Theft of the Century - The Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre, and Picasso is involved in the case. He and Apollinaire are suspected of involvement, since in 1907 Picasso, through Apollinaire, acquired from an adventurer two Iberian figurines stolen from the Louvre. Frightened by the prospect of prison and deportation from the country (both of them do not have French citizenship).

The friends return the figurines through the newspaper, go through the arrest of Apollinaire and the interrogation of Picasso, but, in the end, the suspicion of involvement in the theft of Mona Lisa is removed from them, and they are released with censures. Picasso, however, still suffers from a little paranoia for some time - he imagines that he is constantly being watched by police agents.

6. Fra Filippo Lippi

Carmelite monk and Renaissance genius Filippo Lippi seduced the young nun Lucrezia Buti. They had a son and daughter. In the 15th century, all of Florence was shocked by this outrageous behavior of the artist, who violated church laws. But it's not that simple. Lippi was the favorite artist of Cosimo de' Medici, the most powerful man in the city, and as a result he was never brought to justice. His illegitimate son Filippino grew up to become a great artist.

7. Olive Wharry

This early 20th century British artist was sent to prison after she set fire and burned down a tea house in Kew Gardens. Wharry was a suffragette and is remembered more for her criminal behavior than for her art. Her delicate watercolors create a surprising contrast with her deeds: arson and hunger strikes - the artist has a lot of this to her credit.

8. Shepard Fairey

America's most famous contemporary Steet artist and creator of the "Hope" poster that helped get Obama elected. Fairey performed it in 2008, during the Obama campaign.

The poster not only glorified its creator, but also influenced the mood of voters. "Hope" motifs were used in the creation of political posters after the elections. This is all well and good, but Fairey had run-ins with the police, who refused to see his art as... Well, as art.

Instead, they held the artist liable for damage to property, and the court imposed a suspended sentence. But in general, he tried to create the image of a guerrilla hero: a street artist who single-handedly fights the powerful corporations.

9. Carlo Crivelli

This 15th-century artist was famous for his altars, delicate figures of female saints, and images of fruit. His art seems more worldly than godly. In fact, the only reason Crivelli was in all these small towns gracing cathedral altars was because he was persona non grata in Venice on charges of sex crimes: adultery, seducing another man's wife.

10. Richard Dadd

And finally, the most horrific crime. (I wrote about him once).

Parricide. A brilliantly gifted young artist victorian era tragically struck mental illness. He was examined by a psychiatrist, but his father did not believe the diagnosis, which can be perceived as fate, because the father had many reasons to call a doctor and trust his conclusion.

First of all, very strange strange behavior son. Just storing 300 eggs in a room is worth it! Secondly, heredity, which my father knew very well. Richard Dadd spent the rest of his life in prisons and mental hospitals, where he painted fantastical fairy-tale scenes of powerful intensity. He died at Broadmoor.

That's what he was, a genius from Bedlam.

Request text: "Hello!
I liked your magazine!
I am a “visualist” because I take photographs and am most interested in visual images. The semantic load is not so important.
If I read, I am especially interested in everything related to history. visual arts, not just photographs. I have huge gaps in my education.
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I don’t think that such a post will reduce traffic to the magazine :)...
but some facts are really very interesting - I advise you to read

Not quite ordinary facts from the life of legendary talents.

You can find a huge amount of information about famous artists - how they lived, how they created their immortal works. Many people usually do not think about the characteristics of the artist’s character and lifestyle. But some facts from the biography or the history of the creation of this or that picture are sometimes very entertaining and even provocative.

Pablo Picasso

Good artists copy, great artists steal.

When Pablo Picasso was born, the midwife considered him stillborn. The child was saved by his uncle, who was smoking cigars and, seeing the baby lying on the table, blew smoke in his face, after which Pablo began to roar. Thus, we can say that smoking saved Picasso's life.

Apparently Pablo was born an artist - his first word was PIZ, short for LAPIZ (“pencil” in Spanish).

IN early years During his life in Paris, Picasso was so poor that he was sometimes forced to burn with his paintings instead of firewood.

Picasso wore long clothes and also had long hair, which was unheard of at that time

Picasso's full name consists of 23 words: Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan N epomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano d e la Santisima Trinidad Mártir Patricio C lito -Ruiz y Picasso.

Vincent van Gogh

Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Many people believe that they will become good if they do nothing bad.

Abundance yellow color and the yellow spots of various shades in his paintings are believed to be caused by the heavy use of drugs for epilepsy, which developed from excessive consumption of absinthe. " Starlight Night", "Sunflowers".

During his hectic life, Van Gogh visited more than one psychiatric hospital with diagnoses ranging from schizophrenia to manic-depressive psychosis. His most famous painting"Starry Night" was written in 1889 in a hospital in the town of San Remy.

Committed suicide. He shot himself in the stomach while hiding in a farm yard behind a pile of manure. He was 37 years old.

Throughout his life, Van Gogh suffered from low self-esteem. He sold only one of his works during his lifetime - Red Vineyard at Arles. And fame came to him only after his death. If only Van Gogh knew how popular his work would become.

Van Gogh did not cut off his entire ear, but only a piece of his earlobe, which hardly hurt. However, there is still a widespread legend that the artist amputated his entire ear. This legend was even reflected in the behavior of a patient who operates on himself or insists on a certain operation - it was called Van Gogh syndrome.

Leonardo da Vinci

He who lives in fear dies from fear.

Leonardo was the first to explain why the sky is blue. In the book “On Painting” he wrote: “The blueness of the sky occurs due to the thickness of illuminated air particles, which is located between the Earth and the blackness above.”

Leonardo was ambidextrous - he was equally good with his right and left hands. They even say that he could write at the same time different texts with different hands. However, he wrote most of his works with his left hand from right to left.

He played the lyre masterfully. When Leonardo's case was heard in the Milan court, he appeared there precisely as a musician, and not as an artist or inventor.

Leonardo was the first painter to dismember corpses in order to understand the location and structure of muscles.

Leonardo da Vinci was a strict vegetarian and never drank cow's milk, because he considered it theft.

Salvador Dali

If I didn't have enemies, I wouldn't be what I am. But, thank God, there were enough enemies.

Arriving in New York in 1934, he carried a 2-meter-long loaf of bread in his hands as an accessory, and while visiting an exhibition of surrealist creativity in London, he dressed in a diver’s suit.

Dali wrote the painting “The Persistence of Memory” (“Soft Hours”) under the impression of Einstein’s theory of relativity. The idea took shape in Salvador's head while he was looking at a piece of Camembert cheese one hot August day.

Salvador Dali often went to bed with a key in his hand. Sitting on a chair, he fell asleep with a heavy key clutched between his fingers. Gradually the grip weakened, the key fell and hit a plate lying on the floor. Thoughts that arose during naps could be new ideas or solutions to complex problems.

During his lifetime, the great artist bequeathed to be buried in such a way that people could walk on the grave, so his body was walled up in a wall at the Dali Museum in Figueres. Flash photography is not permitted in this room.

Salvador Dali's nickname was “Avida Dollars,” which translated means “passionate for dollars.”

The Chupa Chups logo was drawn by Salvador Dali. In a slightly modified form, it has survived to this day.

Almost every one of Dali's works contains either a portrait or a silhouette of him.

Henri Matisse

Flowers bloom everywhere for everyone who wants to see them.

In 1961, Henri Matisse's painting "The Boat" (Le Bateau), exhibited at New York's Museum of Modern Art, hung upside down for forty-seven days. The painting was hung in the gallery on October 17, and only on December 3 did anyone notice the mistake.

Henri Matisse suffered from depression and insomnia, sometimes crying in his sleep and waking up screaming. One day, without any reason, he suddenly had a fear of going blind. And he even learned to play the violin so he could make a living as a street musician when he lost his sight.

For many years Matisse lived in poverty. He was about forty when he was finally able to support his family on his own.

Henri Matisse never painted rocks, clear crystal houses, cultivated fields.

During the last 10 years of his life, he was diagnosed with duodenal cancer and had to remain in a wheelchair.

Edvard Munch

In my art I have tried to explain life and its meaning to myself, I have also tried to help others explain their lives.

Munch was only five years old when his mother died of tuberculosis, and then he lost his older sister. Since then, the theme of death has arisen more than once in his work and life path From the very first steps, the artist declared itself as a life drama.

His painting "The Scream" is the most expensive piece art sold at open auction.

He was obsessed with work and said this himself: “Writing for me is a disease and intoxication. An illness that I don’t want to get rid of, and an intoxication that I want to remain in.”

Paul Gauguin

Art is an abstraction, extract it from nature, fantasize based on it, and think more about the process of creation rather than the result.

The artist was born in Paris, but spent his childhood in Peru. Hence his love for exotic and tropical countries.

Gauguin easily changed techniques and materials. He was also interested in wood carving. Often experiencing financial difficulties, he was unable to buy paints. Then he took up the knife and the wood. He decorated the doors of his house in the Marquesas Islands with carved panels.

Paul Gauguin worked as a laborer on the Panama Canal.

The artist painted still lifes mainly without resorting to a model.

In 1889, having thoroughly studied the Bible, he painted four canvases in which he depicted himself in the image of Christ.

Frequent and promiscuous relationships with girls led to Gauguin falling ill with syphilis.

Renoir Pierre Auguste

At the age of forty I discovered that the king of all colors is black.

Around 1880, Renoir first broke his right hand. Instead of being upset and grieving about this, he takes the brush with his left, and after a while no one doubts that he will be able to paint masterpieces with both hands.

He managed to paint about 6,000 paintings over 60 years.

Renoir was so in love with painting that he did not stop working even in old age, when he was ill. in different forms arthritis, and painted with a brush tied to his sleeve. One day it close friend Matisse asked: “Auguste, why don’t you give up painting, you’re suffering so much?” Renoir limited himself to answering: “La douleur passe, la beauté reste” (The pain passes, but beauty remains).

Kieron Williamson. England

Kieron Williamson was born in England in small town Norfolk. His father is a builder, his mother is a general practitioner. The parents could not even imagine that their son would draw. Kieron, like all boys, loved football, active recreation, and games with friends. All he could draw was color sketches, and not very carefully. But, as always, it was all due to chance.

One day the family went on vacation to the city of Cornwall. Kieron was absolutely delighted with the boats and sailboats moored to the shore. He painted this beauty. From this day his career as an artist began.

He did not stop writing after returning home. On the contrary, I took courses in watercolor painting and visited the studio. In the same year he opened his first exhibition. His paintings sold out in 14 minutes.

The owner of an art gallery in Norfolk says Kieron's skill is second to none as he draws equally well. different colors, combines colors amazingly. His paintings respect proportions and shadows. Kieron's style of writing is reminiscent of impressionism.

They predict a great future for Kiron, because his paintings are collected by collectors in many countries around the world, believing that in the near future they will cost much more.

Dusan Krtolica. Serbia

Dusan Krtolica has become the real pride of Serbia, although he considers himself an ordinary boy. Dusan's first work was an accurately drawn whale, although his parents did not attach any importance to the boy's drawing. But every day the child asked for more and more paper for work.

Today, Dusan paints approximately 500 works per week. Depict an animal and vegetable world- his passion. But it’s not only surprising that the boy makes incomparable drawings with a simple pen or marker, all his animals are depicted with amazing anatomical accuracy. But Dusan depicts not only modern animals, but also representatives of the fauna that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago.

The parents were concerned about their son's passion and took him to a psychiatrist. But the specialist noted high level the boy’s intelligence, and reassured him: the child’s “genius” does not affect his development in any way, and drawing acts as a kind of emotional release. Dusan gets along well with his classmates, loves all boyish games, and, surprisingly, dreams of becoming not an artist, but a zoologist.

Aelita Andre. Australia

Aelita Andre began drawing when she was not even one year old. As always, everything turned out by chance. The girl's father is also an artist. One day he left a canvas with paints on the floor and discovered that his little daughter was happily painting. Of course, he was only happy - anything for a child, as long as he didn’t cry.

But from that day Aelita’s love for drawing began. At two years old she already had her own exhibition.

In the girls’ works, they observe a surreal painting style, and their drawing style is compared to the technique of Salvador Dali.

Of course, many see in the girl’s works only “childish scribbling.” But critics just say that her paintings do not look like children's drawings. They admire the combination of colors, their own style, texture and composition.

Xing Yao Cen. Taiwan, USA

Xing Yao simply fell in love with San Francisco. He draws the same places many times, only from different angles. He especially loves to draw early morning or in the evening - when there are few passers-by.

Its cityscapes are simply amazing.

Xing Yao has an amazing “floating” oil painting technique. One gets the impression that he is painting with watercolors.

Now he is 29 years old, and with each work his technique becomes more and more perfect. Who knows what kind of skill Xing Yao will achieve in, say, ten years?

Shorio Mahano. India

Shorio Mahano works in the style of abstract expressionism. His passion for drawing began at the age of four, when he imitated the hobby of his older sisters. But the parents immediately realized that these were not just children’s drawings, but something more.

This was confirmed at the art exhibition where the works were taken.

Shorio uses a special technique of applying paint in several layers. It takes him several days to complete one job.

Shorio is delighted with his occupation and answers without hesitation when asked what he wants to be - an artist, of course!

Alicia Zaharko. Ukraine

Oddly enough with many famous paintings truly mysterious and Mystic stories. I will say more, many art critics believe that almost Satan himself had a hand in the creation of a number of paintings. Too often happened to these fatal masterpieces amazing facts and inexplicable events - fires, deaths, the madness of the authors...

One of the most famous “cursed” paintings is “The Crying Boy” - a reproduction of a painting by the Spanish artist Giovanni Bragolin. The story of its creation is as follows: the artist wanted to paint a portrait of a crying child and took his little son as a sitter. But, since the baby could not cry on demand, the father deliberately brought him to tears by lighting matches in front of his face.

The artist knew that his son was terrified of fire, but art was dearer to him than the nerves of his own child, and he continued to mock him. One day, driven to the point of hysteria, the baby could not stand it and shouted, shedding tears: “Burn yourself!” This curse did not take long to come true - two weeks later the boy died of pneumonia, and soon his father burned alive in his own house... This is the backstory. The painting, or rather its reproduction, gained its ominous fame in 1985 in England.

This happened thanks to a series of strange coincidences - fires in residential buildings began to occur one after another in Northern England. There were human casualties. Some victims mentioned that of all the property, only a cheap reproduction depicting a crying child miraculously survived. And such reports became more and more numerous, until, finally, one of the fire inspectors publicly announced that in all the burned houses, without exception, the “Crying Boy” was found intact.

Immediately, the newspapers were overwhelmed by a wave of letters reporting various accidents, deaths and fires that occurred after the owners bought this painting. Of course, “The Crying Boy” immediately began to be considered cursed, the story of its creation surfaced and became overgrown with rumors and fiction... As a result, one of the newspapers published an official statement that everyone who has this reproduction must immediately get rid of it, and the authorities From now on it is forbidden to purchase and keep it at home.

To this day, “The Crying Boy” is haunted by notoriety, especially in Northern England. By the way, the original has not yet been found. True, some doubters (especially here in Russia) deliberately hung this portrait on their wall, and, it seems, no one was burned. But still there are very few people who want to test the legend in practice.

Another famous “fiery masterpiece” is “Water Lilies” by the impressionist Monet. The artist himself was the first to suffer from it - his workshop almost burned down for unknown reasons.

Then the new owners of “Water Lilies” burned down - a cabaret in Montmartre, the house of a French philanthropist, and even the New York Museum contemporary arts. Currently, the painting is in the Mormoton Museum, in France, and does not exhibit its “fire hazardous” properties. Bye.

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 it 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.

The famous “La Giaconda” 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 very 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 French writer Stendhal, who fainted while admiring the 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 “La Gioconda”. For six years, until his death, Leonardo rewrote and corrected the painting, but he never fully achieved what he wanted.

Velazquez’s painting “Venus with a Mirror” also deservedly enjoyed disrepute. Everyone who bought it either went bankrupt or died. violent death. Even museums did not really want to include its main composition, and the painting constantly changed its “registration”. It ended with the fact that one day a crazy visitor attacked the canvas and cut it with a knife.

Another “cursed” painting that is widely known is the work of Californian surrealist artist “Hands Resist Him” by Bill Stoneham. The artist painted it in 1972 from a photograph in which he and his younger sister stand in front of their home. In the picture, a boy with unclear facial features and a doll the size of a living girl froze in front of a glass door, to which the small hands of children are pressed from the inside. There are many creepy stories associated with this picture. It all started with the fact that the first art critic who saw and appreciated the work died suddenly.

Then the picture was acquired by an American actor, who also did not live long. After his death, the work disappeared for a short time, but then it was accidentally found in a trash heap. The family who picked up the nightmare masterpiece thought of hanging it in the nursery. As a result, the little daughter began to run into her parents’ bedroom every night and scream that the children in the picture were fighting and changing their location. My father installed a motion-sensing camera in the room, and it went off several times during the night.

Of course, the family hastened to get rid of such a gift of fate, and soon Hands Resist Him was put up for online auction. And then numerous letters poured in to the organizers with complaints that while viewing the film, people felt sick, and some even had heart attacks. It was bought by the owner of a private art gallery, and now complaints have begun to come to him. Two American exorcists even approached him with offers of their services. And psychics who have seen the picture unanimously claim that evil emanates from it.

Photo - prototype of the painting “Hands Resist Him”:

There are several masterpieces of Russian painting that also have sad stories. For example, the painting “Troika” by Perov, known to everyone since school. This touching and sad picture depicts three peasant children from poor families who are pulling a heavy load, harnessed to it in the manner of draft horses. In the center is a blond little boy. Perov was looking for a child for the picture until he met a woman with a 12-year-old son named Vasya, who were walking through Moscow on a pilgrimage.

Vasya remained the only consolation of his mother, who buried her husband and other children. At first she did not want her son to pose for the painter, but then she agreed. However, soon after the painting was completed, the boy died... It is known that after the death of her son, a poor woman came to Perov, begging him to sell her a portrait of her beloved child, but the painting was already hanging in Tretyakov Gallery. True, Perov responded to his mother’s grief and painted a portrait of Vasya separately especially for her.

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.

An interesting story is connected with the painting “Maslenitsa”, which for a long time adorned the hall of the Ukraine Hotel. It hung and hung, no one really looked at it, until it suddenly became clear that the author of this work was a mentally ill person named Kuplin, who in his own way copied the painting by the artist Antonov. Actually, there is nothing particularly terrible or outstanding in the picture of a mentally ill person, but for six months it excited the vastness of the Runet.

Antonov's painting

Kuplin's painting

One student wrote a blog post about her 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 painting, 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, for some it really makes an eerie impression and causes unpleasant sensations.

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's why rumors spread that he had managed to lure the spirit 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 residue remained.

Dozens of people who in one way or another came into contact with Edvard Munch’s painting “The Scream,” whose value experts estimate at $70 million, were exposed to evil fate: they fell ill, quarreled with loved ones, fell into severe depression, or even suddenly died. All this gave the painting a bad reputation, so that museum visitors looked at it with caution, remembering the terrible stories that were told about the masterpiece.

One day, a museum employee accidentally dropped a painting. After some time, he began to have terrible headaches. It must be said that before this incident he had no idea what a headache was. The migraine attacks became more and more frequent and severe, and it ended with the poor man committing suicide.

Another time, a museum worker dropped a painting while it was being hung from one wall to another. A week later, he was in a horrific car accident that left him with broken legs, arms, several ribs, a fractured pelvis, and a severe concussion.

One of the museum visitors tried to touch the painting with his finger. A few days later, a fire started at his house, in which the man burned to death.

The life of Edvard Munch himself, born in 1863, was a series of endless tragedies and upheavals. Illness, death of relatives, madness. His mother died of tuberculosis when the child was 5 years old. Nine years later, Edward’s beloved sister Sophia died from a serious illness. Then brother Andreas died, and doctors diagnosed his younger sister with schizophrenia.

In the early 90s, Munch suffered a severe nervous breakdown and long time underwent electroshock treatment. He never married because the thought of sex terrified him. He died at the age of 81, leaving a huge gift to the city of Oslo. creative heritage: 1200 paintings, 4500 sketches and 18 thousand graphic works. But the pinnacle of his work remains, of course, “The Scream.”

Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted “The Adoration of the Magi” over 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 the 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.

Probably the most famous bad picture of the Internet space 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 will turn red, her hair will turn black, fangs will 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.

The following painting 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 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 the 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.”

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.