Among the noble works of art that delight the eye and evoke only positive emotions, there are paintings that are, to put it mildly, strange and shocking. We present to your attention 20 paintings by world-famous artists that will make you feel horrified...
"Failure of Mind to Matter"
A painting painted in 1973 by the Austrian artist Otto Rapp. He depicted a decomposing human head placed on a birdcage containing a piece of flesh.
"The Hanging Live Negro"
This grisly creation by William Blake depicts a black slave who was hanged from the gallows with a hook threaded through his ribs. The work is based on the story of the Dutch soldier Steadman, an eyewitness to such a brutal massacre.
"Dante and Virgil in Hell"
The painting by Adolphe William Bouguereau was inspired by a short scene of a battle between two damned souls from Dante's Inferno.
"Hell"
The painting "Hell" by the German artist Hans Memling, painted in 1485, is one of the most terrible artistic creations of its time. She was supposed to push people towards virtue. Memling enhanced the terrifying effect of the scene by adding the caption: "There is no redemption in hell."
"The Great Red Dragon and the Sea Monster" 
The famous 13th-century English poet and artist William Blake, in a moment of insight, created a series of watercolor paintings depicting the great red dragon from the Book of Revelation. The Red Dragon was the embodiment of the devil.
"Water Spirit" 
The artist Alfred Kubin is considered the greatest representative of symbolism and expressionism and is known for his dark symbolic fantasies. “The Spirit of Water” is one of these works, depicting the powerlessness of man in front of the sea elements.
"Necronom IV"
This scary creation by famous artist Hans Rudolf Giger was inspired by the movie Alien. Giger suffered from nightmares and all of his paintings were inspired by these visions.
"The Flaying of Marcia"
Created by Italian Renaissance artist Titian, The Flaying of Marsyas is currently housed in the National Museum in Kroměříž in the Czech Republic. The artwork depicts a scene from Greek mythology where the satyr Marsyas is flayed for daring to challenge the god Apollo.
"The Temptation of Saint Anthony"
Matthias Grunewald depicted religious subjects of the Middle Ages, although he himself lived during the Renaissance. St. Anthony was said to have faced tests of his faith while praying in the desert. According to legend, he was killed by demons in a cave, then he resurrected and destroyed them. This painting depicts Saint Anthony being attacked by demons.
"Severed Heads"
Théodore Géricault's most famous work is The Raft of Medusa, a huge painting painted in a romantic style. Géricault tried to break the boundaries of classicism by moving to romanticism. These paintings were the initial stage of his creativity. For his works, he used real limbs and heads, which he found in morgues and laboratories.
"Scream"
This famous painting by Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch was inspired by a serene evening walk during which the artist witnessed the blood-red setting sun.
"The Death of Marat"
Jean-Paul Marat was one of the leaders of the French Revolution. Suffering from a skin disease, he spent most of his time in the bathroom, where he worked on his notes. There he was killed by Charlotte Corday. Marat's death has been depicted several times, but it is Edvard Munch's work that is particularly brutal.
"Still life of masks"
Emil Nolde was one of the early Expressionist artists, although his fame was eclipsed by others such as Munch. Nolde painted this painting after studying masks in the Berlin Museum. Throughout his life he has been fascinated by other cultures, and this work is no exception.
"Gallowgate Lard"
This painting is nothing more than a self-portrait of Scottish author Ken Currie, who specializes in dark, social-realistic paintings. Curry's favorite theme is the dull city life of the Scottish working class.
"Saturn Devouring His Son"
One of the most famous and sinister works of the Spanish artist Francisco Goya was painted on the wall of his house in 1820 - 1823. The plot is based on the Greek myth of the Titan Chronos (in Rome - Saturn), who feared that he would be overthrown by one of his children and ate them immediately after birth.
"Judith Killing Holofernes"
The execution of Holofernes was depicted by such great artists as Donatello, Sandro Botticelli, Giorgione, Gentileschi, Lucas Cranach the Elder and many others. The painting by Caravaggio, painted in 1599, depicts the most dramatic moment of this story - the beheading.
"Nightmare"
The painting by Swiss painter Heinrich Fuseli was first shown at the annual exhibition of the Royal Academy in London in 1782, where it shocked both visitors and critics.
"Massacre of the innocents"
This outstanding work of art by Peter Paul Rubens, consisting of two paintings, was created in 1612 and is believed to have been influenced by the works of the famous Italian artist Caravaggio.
"Study of the portrait of Innocent X Velazquez"
This terrifying image of one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Francis Bacon, is based on a paraphrase of Diego Velázquez's famous portrait of Pope Innocent X. Spattered with blood, his face painfully contorted, the Pope is depicted seated in a metal tubular structure that, upon closer inspection, appears to be a throne.
"The Garden of Earthly Delights"
This is Hieronymus Bosch's most famous and frightening triptych. To date, there are many interpretations of the painting, but none of them have been conclusively confirmed. Perhaps Bosch's work personifies the Garden of Eden, the Garden of earthly pleasures and the Punishments that will have to be suffered for mortal sins committed during life.
1. "Crying Boy"- painting by Spanish artist Giovanni Bragolin. There is a legend that the boy’s father (who is also the author of the portrait), trying to achieve brightness, vitality and naturalness of the canvas, lit matches in front of the baby’s face. The fact is that the boy was deathly afraid of fire. The boy was crying - his father was drawing. One day the kid couldn’t stand it and 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. This could have been the end of it, but in 1985, British newspapers continued to report that in almost every burnt-out building, firefighters found reproductions of “The Crying Boy,” which were not even touched by the fire. 
2. "The hands resist him"- painting by American artist Bill Stoneham. The author says that the painting depicts himself at the age of five, that the door is a representation of the dividing line between the real world and the world of dreams, and the doll is a guide that can guide the boy through this world. The hands represent alternative lives or possibilities. The painting became a famous urban legend in February 2000 when it was put up for sale on eBay with a backstory saying that the painting was "haunted." According to legend, after the death of the first owner of the painting, the painting was discovered in a landfill among a pile of garbage. The family that found her brought her home, and already on the first night the little four-year-old daughter ran into her parents’ bedroom shouting that “the children in the picture are fighting.” The next night - that “the children in the picture were outside the door.” The next night, the head of the family installed a motion-sensitive video camera in the room where the painting hung. The video camera worked several times, but nothing was captured. 3. "Rain Woman"- painting by Vinnytsia artist Svetlana Telets. Even six months before the painting was created, she began to have visions. For a long time, Svetlana thought that someone was watching her. Sometimes she even heard strange sounds in her apartment. But I tried to push these thoughts away. And after some time, an idea for a new painting appeared. The image of the mysterious woman was born suddenly, but Svetlana felt as if she had known her for a long time. Facial features as if woven from fog, clothes, ghostly lines of a figure - the artist painted a woman without thinking for a minute. It was as if her hand was being guided by an invisible force. Rumor spread throughout the city that this painting was cursed after the third buyer returned the painting a few days later without even taking the money. Everyone who had this picture said that at night it seemed to come to life and walk like a shadow nearby. People began to have headaches and, even after hiding the painting in a closet, the sensation of presence did not go away. 
4. During Pushkin’s time, the portrait of Maria Lopukhina, painted by Vladimir Borovikovsky, 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 Tolstoy, was a famous mystic and master of the Masonic lodge. That is why rumors spread that he 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... 
5. "Water lilies"- landscape by impressionist Claude Monet. 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. 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, there was a fire here too. And the damned picture was heavily charred. 
6. In a painting by Edvard Munch "Scream" a hairless suffering creature is depicted with a head resembling an inverted pear, with her palms pressed to her ears in horror and her mouth open in a silent scream. The convulsive waves of this creature’s torment, like an echo, disperse in the air around its head. This man (or woman) seems trapped in his own scream and has covered his ears in order not to hear it. It would be strange if there were no legends around this picture. They say that everyone who came into contact with her suffered from an evil fate. A museum employee who accidentally dropped a painting began to suffer from severe headaches and eventually committed suicide. Another employee, who apparently also had crooked hands, dropped the painting and had an accident the next day. Someone even burned a day after coming into contact with the painting. 
7. Another canvas that constantly accompanies trouble is "Venus with a Mirror" Diego Velazquez. The painting's first owner, a Spanish merchant, went bankrupt, his trade deteriorating every day until most of his goods were captured by pirates at sea and several more ships sank. Selling everything he had by auction, the merchant also sold the painting. It was acquired by another Spaniard, also a merchant who owned rich warehouses in the port. Almost immediately after the money for the canvas was transferred, the merchant’s warehouses caught fire from a sudden lightning strike. The owner was ruined. And again there is an auction, and again the painting is sold along with other things, and again a wealthy Spaniard buys it... Three days later he was stabbed to death in his own house during a robbery. After that, the painting could not find its new owner for a long time (its reputation was too damaged), and the canvas traveled to different museums, until in 1914 a madwoman cut it up with a knife. 
8. "Demon Defeated" Mikhail Vrubel had a detrimental effect on the psyche and health of the artist himself. He could not tear himself away from the picture, he continued to add to the face of the defeated Spirit and 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. 
"Nightmare" - a series of four paintings by the Swiss and English artist Henry Fuseli, which illustrate the Gothic movement in the art of the New Age.
The figure of the sleeping or unconscious woman depicted in the painting is elongated and curved. Fuseli deliberately wrote it this way to show the full weight of the incubus sitting on her chest - the embodiment of nightmares and unconscious fears. In the opening between the curtains is visible the head of a blind horse, whose image in this painting anticipates the demonic aspect attached to this animal in late French romanticism.
Often when we think of paintings in museums, we imagine lovely landscapes and majestic portraits. However, art can have another side to the coin. Sometimes an artist creates work so disturbing that it borders on scary. You might not want to hang these in your bedroom, but they are definitely worth a look. Here are 10 of the scariest paintings painted by great artists.
The Great Red Dragon and the Sea Monster, William Blake.
Today William Blake is well known for his prints and romantic poetry, but during his lifetime he was anything but famous. His engravings and illustrations are made in a classical style. In his work, he started from imagination, and not from real studies of nature. Blake painted a series of watercolor paintings of the great red dragon from the Book of Revelation. The painting depicts a red dragon, the embodiment of the devil, standing over a seven-headed sea monster.
Study of the Portrait of Innocent X Velazquez, Francis Bacon.
F. Bacon was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. His paintings are bold and cold in a figurative sense. They sell for millions of pounds, and even pieces of canvas (Bacon destroyed works he didn't like) are worth a lot. Throughout his life he returned to the portrait of Innocent X, making his own interpretations of this painting. Velazquez's work depicts the Pope in a pensive state, while Bacon's depicts him shouting.
Dante and Virgil in Hell, Adolphe William Bouguereau
Dante's Inferno, with its depictions of torture, has inspired many artists since its publication. Bouguereau is the most famous of all. However, it moves from classical calm to the circles of hell, where the characters constantly fight, stealing each other's identities through the bite. As the demon triumphs, Dante and Virgil watch those condemned to eternal torment.
Death of Marat, Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch is the most famous Norwegian artist. His famous painting “The Scream” is firmly ingrained in people’s consciousness. Jean-Paul Marat was one of the leaders of the French Revolution. Suffering from a skin disease, he spent most of his time in the bathroom, where he worked on his notes. There he was killed by Charlotte Corday. Marat's death was depicted several times, but Munch's work is notable for its brutality.
Severed Heads, Theodore Gericault
His most famous work is The Raft of Medusa, a huge painting painted in a romantic style. Géricault tried to break the boundaries of classicism by moving to romanticism. These paintings were the initial stage of his creativity. For his works, he used real limbs and heads, which he found in morgues and laboratories.
The Temptation of Saint Anthony, Matthias Grunewald
This artist depicted religious subjects of the Middle Ages, although he himself lived during the Renaissance. St. Anthony was said to have faced tests of his faith while praying in the desert. According to legend, he was killed by demons in a cave, then he resurrected and destroyed them. This painting depicts Saint Anthony being attacked by demons.
Still life of masks, Emil Nolde
Emil Nolde was one of the early Expressionist artists, although his fame was eclipsed by others such as Munch. The essence of expressionism is the depiction of reality from a subjective point of view. Nolde painted this painting after studying masks in the Berlin Museum. Throughout his life he has been fascinated by other cultures, and this work is no exception.
Saturn Devouring His Son, Francisco Goya
According to Roman mythology, based on Greek, the father of all gods devoured his own children so that none of them could take his place. Goya depicted the murder of a child on canvas. This painting was never intended for the general public; it was painted on the wall of his house along with the equally gloomy “Black Paintings.”
Judith and Holofernes, Caravaggio
This painting is based on the Old Testament "Book of Judith", which tells the story of a young widow, Judith. According to legend, Holofernes was the commander of Nebuchadnezzar's army that invaded Judea. The Babylonians besieged the city of Bethulia, in which lived the chaste and God-fearing young widow Judith. There was no hope for the townspeople. Having put on beautiful clothes and taking a maid with her, she went to the enemy’s camp and made Holofernes trust her. When one evening he fell asleep drunk, she cut off his head and returned to her hometown. The expression of grim determination on the maid's face is sharply balanced by the unreadable gaze of Judith and the cry of horror of Holofernes himself.
The Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch is known for his disturbing and fantastical paintings of religious themes. The Garden of Earthly Delights is a triptych depicting the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Earthly Delights and the Punishments for mortal sins that occur in this earthly garden. A careful study of the painting reveals Bosch's true talent for witty detail. In general, Bosch's works are among the most terrible.
For creativity Billy Stoneham in RuNet they began to pay more and more attention. The main reason is that it was this artist who painted, which many call damned.
The history of the painting began in 1972. Stoneham, then a young Californian artist, found an old photograph of him and his younger sister (Billy is 5 years old in the photograph).
The famous photograph from which the painting “Hands Resist Him” was painted Stonehen painted the painting based on this photograph and named it "Hands Resist Him"- what does it mean in translation? “Hands resist him”.
The painting depicts a boy with unclear facial features and a life-size doll of a living girl. The figures froze in front of the glass door, and from the inside the small hands of children are pressed against this door.
Agree, the picture is frightening in its appearance, but the most terrible in the world That’s not why she appears, because it’s not for nothing that they called her the revived and the damned. To understand why the picture is truly the most terrible, we need to learn about its history.
The first owner of the painting There was an art critic, Times, who liked the painting and bought it, but it turned out to be in vain: Times died suddenly.
Then the painting was purchased by the American actor John Marley, who also died soon after: only 2 months passed after the purchase "Hands Resist Him".
Well, this can easily be chalked up to empty coincidences. But as they say, 2 times is a coincidence, and 3 times is a pattern. Let's look further...
After John's death, the painting disappeared, but then it was accidentally found in a trash heap among a pile of garbage. The family that found the ominous masterpiece apparently did not know about its notoriety, and they hung the picture, imagine! in the nursery. The effect was not long in coming: on the very first night, a 4-year-old girl ran into her parents’ bedroom screaming that in the picture the children were changing their location and fighting. This happened every night and the father decided to install a motion-sensing camera in the child's room. Imagine their surprise when the camera reacted several times.
Naturally, the family hastened to get rid of this “gift of fate” and soon "Hands Resist Him" was put up for auction on eBay. This is where the real pun began: the organizers began to receive numerous complaints due to the fact that while viewing the film, people felt ill, some began to cry or lose consciousness, and even heart attacks occurred. But, as you know, people are extremely curious, and about 30,000 users came to look at the “masterpiece” on eBay.
Surprisingly, a buyer was found: it was purchased by Kim Smith, the owner of a private art gallery originally from a small town near Chicago (Stoneham’s homeland).
Note:
starting price "Hands Resist Him" on eBay was only 199 USD, but the painting went to Kim for 1025 USD
Now complaints from the people were already coming to Kim Smith: many still complained of feeling unwell when they saw the picture. Kim was even offered their services by two famous exorcists, Ed and Lorraine Warren, known for exorcizing demons at the Amityville House. They claimed that pure evil emanated from the painting.
A little story:
People connect the most terrible picture in the world with the famous Satillo murder in the forested hills (California): the ghosts of two children are rumored to haunt the house in the hills.
Psychics say:
“We saw the boy. He wore a light T-shirt and shorts. His sister was always in the shadows. He seemed to be protecting her. Their names were Tom and Laura and they looked exactly like the children in the picture.”
Everyone in this hectic life is afraid of something. Some are afraid of shame, some are afraid of death, some are afraid of more global things like war, floods, cholera epidemics and all that. In general, let's not argue - most of the average person's fears are related to death. Hence, the reasons why certain paintings are cursed and avoided by entire generations of people are quite obvious.
Compared to other works on the list, creativity Stephen Gammell(Stephen Gammell) - children's pencil and charcoal drawings. But little children cannot look at his paintings without tears.
As soon as Bruno Amadino(Bruno Amadino) finished painting his painting "The Crying Boy" from life, his studio burned to the ground, and only the last painting he painted survived. And the orphan boy, after whom she was drawn, was hit by a car. Later, many times firefighters found copies of this painting in houses damaged by devastating fires, although the painting was never redrawn by anyone, since, according to rumors, the soul of the dead boy lives in it.
One of the most terrible pictures that humanity has seen. Its owners say that the painting comes to life, some details disappear from it, and people who are somehow connected with it have a tendency to tragic and painful deaths.
Francis Bacon is a British artist renowned for his surreal and homoerotic paintings in his signature mind-blowing style. It doesn’t seem scary when looking at them, but after looking closely, you want to curl up into a ball and hide somewhere far away.
Jane Alexander is known for her unusual sculptures. One of them, "The Butcher Boys", shows us three men without genitals in a semi-relaxed position. Their horns are broken, they are blind, they have no ears to hear, and mouths to speak about something - these are all symbols of misunderstanding and ignorance of the environment and people around.
Joel-Peter Witkin is a strange American photographer. He is famous for his love of photographing dwarfs, transvestites, transsexuals, hermaphrodites, disabled people, and even dead people.
Zdzislaw Weksinski is a Polish artist who depicted deformed people and collapsing worlds in his canvases. He calls the best period of his work the “period of the fantastic”, it was during this time, from the 60s to the 80s of the 20th century, that Zdzislaw painted these strange gothic paintings with skeletons amid the total horror of death, destruction, decay and post-apocalypse.
