Talented artists creating extraordinary paintings. The most unusual and shocking artists in the world Strange pictures of the world
If you do not take the course of realism seriously, then painting has always differed from other genres of art in its strangeness. The metaphorical nature of pictorial images, the search for new forms and original means of expression by artists - all this contributes to a gigantic separation of painting from reality. Writing is obviously a creative death for a worthwhile artist. The picture should have depth and subtext, leapfrog of meanings. In some work there are more of them, in some less, but there are also those where their number is off scale. These paintings are called strange, their true meaning is known only to the author. Here are the 10 weirdest ones:
Jan van Eyck "Portrait of the Arnolfini Couple" - London National Gallery, London
1434, wood, oil. 81.8x59.7 cm
Portrait of allegedly Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife
is one of the most complex works of the Western school of painting
Northern Renaissance.
The famous painting is completely and completely filled with symbols,
allegories and various references - up to the signature “Jan van Eyck
was here ", which turned it not just into a work of art, but into
a historical document confirming an event that actually took place, on
which the artist attended.
In Russia in recent years, the painting has gained great popularity due to the portrait resemblance of Arnolfini to Vladimir Putin.
Edvard Munch "The Scream" - National Gallery, Oslo
1893, cardboard, oil, tempera, pastel. 91x73.5 cm
The Scream is considered a landmark event in Expressionism and one of the most famous paintings in the world.
"I was walking along the path with two friends - the sun was setting - unexpectedly
the sky turned blood red, I paused, feeling exhausted, and
leaned against the fence - I looked at the blood and flames over the bluish-black
fjord and city - my friends went on, and I stood, trembling from
excitement, feeling an endless cry piercing nature ", said Edward
Munch on the history of the painting.
There are two interpretations of what is depicted: it is the hero himself who is seized with horror and
silently screams, pressing his hands to his ears; or the hero covers his ears from
sounding around the cry of peace and nature. Munch wrote 4 versions of The Scream, and
there is a version that this picture is the fruit of a manic-depressive psychosis,
from which the artist suffered. After a course of treatment at the Munch clinic,
returned to work on the canvas.
Paul Gauguin “Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?" - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
1897-1898, oil on canvas. 139.1x374.6 cm
The deeply philosophical picture of the post-impressionist Paul Gauguin was
written by him in Tahiti, where he fled from Paris. Upon completion of the work, he
even wanted to commit suicide, because “I believe that this
the canvas not only surpasses all my previous ones, and that I never
let's create something better or even similar. "
At the direction of Gauguin himself, the painting should be read from right to left - three
the main groups of figures illustrate the questions posed in the title. Three
women with a child represent the beginning of life; middle group
symbolizes the daily existence of maturity; in the final
group, as conceived by the artist, “an old woman approaching death,
seems reconciled and devoted to her reflections ", at her feet
"A strange white bird ... represents the uselessness of words."
Pablo Picasso "Guernica" - Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid
1937, canvas, oil. 349x776 cm
A huge painting-fresco "Guernica", painted by Picasso in 1937,
talks about the raid of a volunteer unit of the Luftwaffe on the city
Guernica, as a result of which the six thousandth city was completely
destroyed. The picture was written in just a month - the first days of work
on the picture Picasso worked for 10-12 hours and already in the first sketches
you could see the main idea. This is one of the best illustrations of a nightmare.
fascism, as well as human cruelty and grief.
Guernica presents scenes of death, violence, atrocity, suffering and
helplessness, without specifying their immediate causes, but they are obvious.
It is said that in 1940, Pablo Picasso was summoned to the Gestapo in Paris.
Speech immediately turned to the picture. "Did you do this?" - "No, you did it."
Mikhail Vrubel "Seated Demon" - Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
1890, canvas, oil. 114x211 cm
The painting by Mikhail Vrubel surprises with the image of a demon. Sad
long-haired guy does not at all resemble universal ideas about
what an evil spirit should look like. The artist himself spoke of herself
famous for his painting:
“The demon is not so much an evil spirit as a suffering and sorrowful spirit, when
all of this is a domineering, dignified spirit. " This is an image of the strength of the human spirit,
internal struggle, doubt. Hands clasped tragically, the Demon sits with
sad, huge eyes directed into the distance, surrounded by flowers.
The composition emphasizes the constraint of the demon's figure, as if squeezed
between the upper and lower crossbeams of the frame.
Vasily Vereshchagin "The Apotheosis of War" - State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
1871, canvas, oil. 127x197 cm
Vereshchagin is one of the main Russian battle painters, but he
drew wars and battles not because he loved them. On the contrary, he tried
convey to people your negative attitude towards the war. Once Vereshchagin in
In the heat of emotion he exclaimed: “I won't write more battle pictures - that's all!
I take what I write too close to my heart, cry out (literally)
the grief of every wounded and killed ”. Probably the result of this exclamation
became a terrible and bewitching picture "The Apotheosis of War", in which
depicts a field, crows and a mountain of human skulls.
The painting is painted so deeply and emotionally that behind every skull,
lying in this heap, you begin to see people, their fates and the fates of those who
he won't see these people again. Vereshchagin himself with sad sarcasm
called the canvas "still life" - it depicts "dead nature".
All details of the painting, including the yellow color, symbolize death and
devastation. The clear blue sky emphasizes the death of the picture. Idea
"Apotheosis of War" is also expressed by scars from sabers and bullet holes on
turtles.
Grant Wood "American Gothic" - Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
1930, oil. 74x62 cm
"American Gothic" is one of the most recognizable images in
American art of the XX century, the most famous artistic meme of the XX and XXI
centuries.
The painting with the gloomy father and daughter is overflowing with details that
indicate the severity, puritanism and retrogradeness of the people depicted.
Angry faces, pitchforks right in the middle of the picture, old-fashioned even by
1930s clothing, exposed elbow, seams on the farmer's clothing,
repeating the shape of the pitchfork, and therefore a threat that is addressed to all who
will encroach. All these details can be looked at endlessly and cringe from
uncomfortable.
Interestingly, the judges of the competition at the Art Institute of Chicago
perceived "Gothic" as a "humorous Valentine", and the residents of the state
Iowa was terribly offended by Wood for portraying them in such
unpleasant light.
Rene Magritte "Lovers" -
1928, canvas, oil
The painting "Lovers" ("Lovers") exists in two versions. On the
one man and woman, whose heads are wrapped in white cloth, kiss, and on
another - "looking" at the viewer. The picture is surprising and mesmerizing. Two
With figures without faces, Magritte conveyed the idea to the blindness of love. About blindness in everyone
meanings: lovers do not see anyone, do not see their true faces, and we, but
besides, the lovers are a mystery even to each other. But with this
seemingly clear, we still continue to look at Magritte
lovers and think about them.
Almost all of Magritte's paintings are puzzles that are completely
it is impossible to guess, since they raise questions about the very essence of being.
Magritte all the time talks about the deceitfulness of the visible, about its hidden
a mystery that we usually do not notice.
Marc Chagall "Walk" - State Tretyakov Gallery
1917, canvas, oil
Usually extremely serious in his painting, Marc Chagall wrote
a delightful manifesto of his own happiness, filled with allegories and
love. The Walk is a self-portrait with his wife Bella. His favourite
soars in the sky and that look will take away in flight and Chagall, standing on the ground
fragile, as if touching it only with the toes of his shoes. In the other hand of Chagall
tit - he is happy, he also has a tit in his hands (probably his
painting), and pie in the sky.
Hieronymus Bosch "Garden of Earthly Delights" - Prado, Spain
1500-1510, wood, oil. 389x220 cm
"Garden of Earthly Delights" - the most famous triptych of Hieronymus Bosch,
named after the theme of the central part, dedicated to sin
sensuality. To date, none of the available interpretations
the picture is not recognized as the only true one.
Enduring charm and strangeness of the triptych at the same time
is how the artist expresses the main idea through the set
details. The picture is overflowing with transparent figurines, fantastic
constructions, monsters, hallucinated flesh, hellish
cartoons of the reality he looks at with a test, extremely
with a sharp look. Some scientists wanted to see an image in the triptych
human life through the prism of its vanity and images of earthly love, others -
the triumph of voluptuousness. However, innocence and some detachment, with
which interpreted individual figures, as well as a favorable attitude towards
this work on the part of the church authorities is forced to doubt,
that its content could be the glorification of bodily pleasures.
Among the noble works of art that delight the eye and evoke only positive emotions, there are paintings, to put it mildly, strange and shocking. We present to your attention 20 paintings by world famous artists that make you horrified ...
"Loss of Mind over Matter"
Painting by Austrian artist Otto Rapp in 1973. He depicted a decaying human head, put on a birdcage, which contains a piece of flesh.
"Haitable Live Negro"
This gruesome creation by William Blake depicts a Negro slave who was hanged from the gallows with a hook 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
Adolphe William Bouguereau's painting was inspired by a short scene about the 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 terrifying artistic creations of its time. She had to push people to virtue. Memling amplified 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 English poet and artist of the 13th century, William Blake, at the moment of inspiration, created a series of watercolor paintings depicting the great red dragon from the Book of Revelations. The Red Dragon was the embodiment of the devil.
"Spirit of water"
The artist Alfred Kubin is considered the largest representative of Symbolism and Expressionism and is known for his dark symbolic fantasies. The Spirit of Water is one of such works, depicting the powerlessness of a person before the sea.
"Necronom IV"
This terrifying creation by renowned artist Hans Rudolf Giger was inspired by the movie Alien. Giger suffered from nightmares and all his paintings were inspired by these visions.
"Skinning Marcia"
Created by the Italian Renaissance artist Titian, the painting "The Skinning of Marsyas" is currently housed in the National Museum in Kromeriz in the Czech Republic. The piece of art depicts a scene from Greek mythology where the satyr Marsyas is flayed for daring to challenge the god Apollo.
"The Temptation of St. Anthony"
Matthias Grunewald depicted religious subjects of the Middle Ages, although he himself lived during the Renaissance. It was said that Saint Anthony faced trials of his faith while praying in the wilderness. According to legend, he was killed by demons in a cave, then he was resurrected and destroyed them. This painting depicts Saint Anthony being attacked by demons.
"Severed heads"
The most famous work of Theodore Gericault is The Raft of Medusa, a huge painting painted in a romantic style. Gericault tried to break the framework of classicism by moving to romanticism. These paintings were the initial stage of his work. For his work, he used real limbs and heads that he found in morgues and laboratories.
"Scream"
This famous painting by the Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch was inspired by a serene evening stroll, during which the artist witnessed the blood-red setting of the sun.
"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. The death of Marat was portrayed several times, but it is the work of Edvard Munch that is particularly cruel.
"Still life from masks"
Emil Nolde was one of the early Expressionist painters, although his fame was eclipsed by others such as Munch. Nolde painted this painting after studying masks at the Berlin Museum. Throughout his life, he was fond of other cultures, and this work is no exception.
Gallowgate Lard
This painting is nothing more than a self-portrait by Scottish author Ken Curry, who specializes in dark, socially realistic paintings. Curry's favorite theme is the dull urban 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 his house wall between 1820 and 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"
Holofernes's execution 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 in this story - the beheading.
"Nightmare"
The painting by the Swiss painter Heinrich Fuseli was first shown at the Royal Academy's annual exhibition in London in 1782, where it shocked visitors and critics alike.
"Massacre of the innocents"
This outstanding work of art by Peter Paul Rubens, consisting of two paintings, was created in 1612, believed to be influenced by the work of the famous Italian painter Caravaggio.
"Study of the portrait of Innocent X Velazquez"
This terrifying image of one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, Francis Bacon, is based on a paraphrase of the famous portrait of Pope Innocent X by Diego Velazquez. Splattered with blood, with a painfully distorted face, the Pope is depicted seated in a metal tubular structure, which upon closer inspection is a throne.
"Garden of Earthly Delights"
This is the most famous and frightening triptych of Hieronymus Bosch. Today, there are many interpretations of the picture, but none of them has been finally confirmed. Perhaps the work of Bosch personifies the Garden of Eden, the Garden of earthly delights and the Punishments that will have to be borne for mortal sins committed during life.
Some works of art seem to hit the viewer on the head, dumbfounded and amazed. Some of them drag you into thought and in search of semantic layers, secret symbolism. Some paintings are fanned with secrets and mystical riddles, and some surprise with an exorbitant price.
"Strangeness" is a rather subjective concept, and each has its own amazing pictures that stand out from a number of other works of art.Edvard Munch "The Scream"
1893, cardboard, oil, tempera, pastel. 91 × 73.5 cm
National Gallery, Oslo
The Scream is considered a landmark event in Expressionism and one of the most famous paintings in the world.
“I was walking along the path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red, I stopped, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence - I looked at the blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and the city - my friends went on, and I stood, trembling with excitement, feeling an endless cry piercing nature, ”said Edvard Munch about the history of the painting.
There are two interpretations of what is depicted: it is the hero himself who is seized with horror and silently screams, pressing his hands to his ears; or the hero closes his ears from the cry of peace and nature sounding around. Munch wrote 4 versions of "The Scream", and there is a version that this picture is the fruit of a manic-depressive psychosis, from which the artist suffered. After a course of treatment at the clinic, Munch did not return to work on the canvas.
Paul Gauguin “Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?"
1897-1898, oil on canvas. 139.1 × 374.6 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
A deeply philosophical picture of the post-impressionist Paul Gauguin was painted by him in Tahiti, where he fled from Paris. Upon completion of the work, he even wanted to commit suicide, because "I believe that this canvas is not only superior to all my previous ones, and that I will never create something better or even similar." He lived for another 5 years, and so it happened.
At the direction of Gauguin himself, the painting should be read from right to left - three main groups of figures illustrate the questions posed in the title. Three women with a child represent the beginning of life; the middle group symbolizes the daily existence of maturity; in the final group, according to the artist's idea, "an old woman approaching death seems to be reconciled and devoted to her thoughts", at her feet "a strange white bird ... represents the uselessness of words."
Pablo Picasso "Guernica"
1937, canvas, oil. 349 × 776 cm
Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid
A huge painting-fresco "Guernica", painted by Picasso in 1937, tells about the raid of a volunteer unit of the Luftwaffe on the city of Guernica, as a result of which the six thousandth city was completely destroyed. The picture was written literally in a month - the first days of work on the picture, Picasso worked for 10-12 hours and already in the first sketches one could see the main idea. This is one of the best illustrations of the nightmare of fascism, as well as human cruelty and grief.
Guernica presents scenes of death, violence, atrocity, suffering and helplessness, without specifying their immediate causes, but they are obvious. It is said that in 1940, Pablo Picasso was summoned to the Gestapo in Paris. The talk immediately turned to the painting. "Did you do this?" - "No, you did it."
Jan van Eyck "Portrait of the Arnolfini couple"
1434, wood, oil. 81.8 × 59.7 cm
London National Gallery, London
The portrait, presumably of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, is one of the most complex works of the Western Northern Renaissance school of painting.
The famous painting is completely and completely filled with symbols, allegories and various references - right up to the signature "Jan van Eyck was here", which turned it not just into a work of art, but into a historical document confirming an actual event that the artist attended.
In Russia in recent years, the painting has gained great popularity due to the portrait resemblance of Arnolfini to Vladimir Putin.
Mikhail Vrubel "Seated Demon"
1890, canvas, oil. 114 × 211 cm
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
The painting by Mikhail Vrubel surprises with the image of a demon. The sad long-haired guy does not at all resemble the general human idea of what an evil spirit should look like. The artist himself spoke of his most famous painting: "The demon is not so much an evil spirit as a suffering and sorrowful spirit, with all this a domineering and majestic spirit." This is an image of the strength of the human spirit, inner struggle, doubt. Hands clasped tragically, the Demon sits with huge sad eyes directed into the distance, surrounded by flowers. The composition emphasizes the tightness of the demon's figure, as if sandwiched between the upper and lower crossbars of the frame.
Vasily Vereshchagin "The Apotheosis of War"
1871, canvas, oil. 127 × 197 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Vereshchagin is one of the main Russian battle painters, but he painted wars and battles not because he loved them. On the contrary, he tried to convey to people his negative attitude towards the war. Once Vereshchagin, in the heat of emotion, exclaimed: “I will not paint any more battle pictures - that's all! I take what I write too close to my heart, cry out (literally) the grief of every wounded and killed. " Probably, the result of this outcry was the terrible and bewitching painting "The Apotheosis of War", which depicts a field, crows and a mountain of human skulls.
The picture is written so deeply and emotionally that behind every skull lying in this heap, you begin to see people, their fates and the fates of those who will no longer see these people. Vereshchagin himself, with sad sarcasm, called the canvas "still life" - it depicts "dead nature".
All the details of the painting, including the yellow coloring, symbolize death and devastation. The clear blue sky emphasizes the deadness of the picture. Scars from sabers and bullet holes on skulls also express the idea of "Apotheosis of War".
Grant Wood "American Gothic"
1930, oil. 74 × 62 cm
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
"American Gothic" is one of the most recognizable images in American art of the 20th century, the most famous artistic meme of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The painting with the gloomy father and daughter is replete with details that indicate the severity, puritanism and retrogradeness of the people depicted. Angry faces, pitchforks right in the middle of the picture, old-fashioned clothes even by 1930 standards, an exposed elbow, the seams on the farmer's clothes, repeating the shape of the pitchfork, and therefore a threat that is addressed to all who encroach. All these details can be scrutinized endlessly and shudder from unrest.
Interestingly, the judges of the competition at the Art Institute of Chicago perceived "Gothic" as a "humorous Valentine", and the residents of Iowa were terribly offended by Wood for portraying them in such an unpleasant light.
Rene Magritte "Lovers"
1928, canvas, oil
The painting "Lovers" ("Lovers") exists in two versions. On one of them a man and a woman, whose heads are wrapped in white cloth, are kissing, and on the other they are "looking" at the viewer. The picture is surprising and mesmerizing. With two figures without faces, Magritte conveyed the idea of the blindness of love. About blindness in every sense: lovers do not see anyone, we do not see their true faces, and besides, lovers are a mystery even to each other. But with this seeming clarity, we still continue to look at the Magritte lovers and think about them.
Almost all of Magritte's paintings are puzzles that cannot be completely solved, since they raise questions about the very essence of being. Magritte all the time talks about the deceitfulness of the visible, about its hidden mystery, which we usually do not notice.
Marc Chagall "Walk"
1917, canvas, oil
State Tretyakov Gallery
Usually extremely serious in his painting, Marc Chagall wrote a delightful manifesto of his own happiness, filled with allegories and love. The Walk is a self-portrait with his wife Bella. His beloved soars in the sky and that look will drag off into flight and Chagall, standing on the ground precariously, as if touching her only with the toes of his shoes. In the other hand, Chagall has a titmouse - he is happy, he has both a titmouse in his hands (probably his painting), and a crane in the sky.
Hieronymus Bosch "The Garden of Earthly Delights"
1500-1510, wood, oil. 389 × 220 cm
Prado, Spain
The Garden of Earthly Delights is the most famous triptych of Hieronymus Bosch, named after the theme of the central part, and is dedicated to the sin of lust. To date, none of the available interpretations of the picture is recognized as the only correct one.
The enduring charm and at the same time weirdness of the triptych lies in the way the artist expresses the main idea through many details. The picture is overflowing with transparent figures, fantastic structures, monsters, hallucinations that have taken on flesh, hellish caricatures of reality, which he looks at with a probing, extremely sharp gaze. Some scientists wanted to see in the triptych an image of human life through the prism of its vanity and images of earthly love, others - a triumph of voluptuousness. However, the innocence and some detachment with which individual figures are interpreted, as well as the favorable attitude towards this work on the part of the church authorities, make one doubt that its content could be the glorification of bodily pleasures.
Gustav Klimt "Three ages of a woman"
1905, canvas, oil. 180 × 180 cm
National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome
"Three Ages of a Woman" is both joyful and sad at the same time. The story of a woman's life is written in three figures in it: carelessness, peace and despair. The young woman is organically woven into the ornament of life, the old one stands out from her. The contrast between the stylized image of a young woman and the naturalistic image of an old woman takes on a symbolic meaning: the first phase of life brings with it endless possibilities and metamorphoses, the last one - invariable constancy and conflict with reality.
The canvas does not let go, climbs into the soul and makes you think about the depth of the artist's message, as well as the depth and inevitability of life.
Egon Schiele "Family"
1918, canvas, oil. 152.5 × 162.5 cm
Gallery "Belvedere", Vienna
Schiele was a student of Klimt, but, like any excellent student, he did not copy his teacher, but was looking for something new. Schiele is much more tragic, strange and frightening than Gustav Klimt. In his works, there is a lot of what could be called pornography, various perversions, naturalism and, at the same time, aching despair.
Family is his last work, in which despair is taken to the absolute, despite the fact that it is his least strange looking picture. He drew her just before his death, after his pregnant wife Edith died of a Spanish woman. He died at the age of 28, just three days after Edith, having managed to draw her, himself and their unborn child.
Frida Kahlo "Two Frida"
The history of the difficult life of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo became widely known after the release of the film "Frida" starring Salma Hayek. Kahlo wrote mostly self-portraits and explained it simply: "I paint myself because I spend a lot of time alone and because I am the topic that I know best."
Not a single self-portrait of Frida Kahlo smiles: a serious, even mournful face, bushy eyebrows fused together, a barely noticeable antennae over tightly compressed lips. The ideas of her paintings are encrypted in the details, background, figures that appear next to Frida. Kahlo's symbolism is based on national traditions and is closely related to the Indian mythology of the pre-Hispanic period.
In one of the best paintings - "Two Fridas" - she expressed the masculine and feminine principles, united in her by a single circulatory system, demonstrating her integrity.
Claude Monet “Waterloo Bridge. Fog effect "
1899, canvas, oil
State Hermitage, St. Petersburg
When viewing a picture from a close distance, the viewer sees nothing but the canvas, on which frequent thick oil strokes are applied. All the magic of the work is revealed when we gradually begin to move away from the canvas at a greater distance. At first, incomprehensible semicircles passing through the middle of the picture begin to appear in front of us, then we see the clear outlines of boats and, moving away at a distance of about two meters, all connecting works are sharply drawn in front of us and lined up in a logical chain.
Jackson Pollock "Number 5, 1948"
1948, fiberboard, oil. 240 × 120 cm
The strangeness of this picture is that the canvas of the American leader of abstract expressionism, which he painted, spilling paint on a piece of fiberboard spread on the floor, is the most expensive painting in the world. In 2006, at Sotheby's auction, they paid $ 140 million for it. David Giffen, film producer and collector, sold it to Mexican financier David Martinez.
“I continue to move away from the usual artist tools such as the easel, palette and brushes. I prefer sticks, scoops, knives and pouring paint or a mixture of paint with sand, broken glass or whatever. When I am inside painting, I am not aware of what I am doing. Understanding comes later. I have no fear of changes or destruction of the image, since the picture lives its own life. I'm just helping her out. But if I lose contact with the painting, it gets messy and messy. If not, then it is pure harmony, the lightness of how you take and give. "
Joan Miró "A man and a woman in front of a heap of excrement"
1935, copper, oil, 23 × 32 cm
Joan Miró Foundation, Spain
Nice title. And who would have thought that this picture tells us about the horrors of civil wars.
The painting was done on a sheet of copper in the week between October 15 and 22, 1935. According to Miro, this is the result of an attempt to portray the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War. Miro said that this is a picture of a period of anxiety. The painting depicts a man and a woman reaching for each other in an embrace, but not moving. Enlarged genitals and ominous colors have been described as "full of disgust and disgusting sexuality."
Jacek Jerka "Erosion"
The Polish neo-surrealist is known all over the world for his amazing paintings that combine realities to create new ones. It is difficult to consider his extremely detailed and to some extent touching works one by one, but this is the format of our material, and we had to choose one - to illustrate his imagination and skill. We recommend that you familiarize yourself.
Bill Stoneham "Hands Resist Him"
This work, of course, cannot be counted among the masterpieces of world painting, but the fact that it is strange is a fact.
There are legends around the painting with a boy, a doll and palms pressed against the glass. From "because of this picture they die" to "children on it are alive." The picture looks really creepy, which gives rise to a lot of fears and conjectures in people with a weak psyche.
The artist insisted 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 arms represent alternative lives or possibilities.
The painting rose to prominence in February 2000 when it was put up for sale on eBay with a backstory that the painting was "haunted." "Hands Resist Him" was bought for $ 1,025 by Kim Smith, who was then simply inundated with letters with terrible stories and demands to burn the painting.
Italian scientists said they found remains that may have belonged to Lisa del Giocondo. Perhaps the mystery of "Mona Lisa" will be revealed. In honor of this, let us recall the most mysterious paintings in history.
1. La Gioconda
The first thing that comes to mind when talking about mysterious paintings, or about paintings-riddles is "Mona Lisa", written by Leonardo da Vinci in 1503-1505. Gruyet wrote that this picture can drive crazy anyone who, having seen enough of it, begins to talk about it.
There are many "mysteries" in this work of da Vinci. Art critics write dissertations on the tilt of the Mona Lisa's arm, medical specialists make diagnoses (from such that the Mona Lisa has no front teeth to such that Mona Lisa is a man). There is even a version that La Gioconda is a self-portrait of the artist.
By the way, the painting gained particular popularity only in 1911, when it was stolen by the Italian Vincenzo Perugio. Found it on a fingerprint. So "Mona Lisa" also became the first success of fingerprinting, and a huge success in the marketing of the art market.
2. Black square
Everyone knows that the "Black Square" is not actually black, and not a square. It really isn't a square. In the catalog for the exhibition, Malevich declared it as a "quadrangle". And really not black. The artist did not use black paint.
It is less known that Malevich considered Black Square to be his best work. When the artist was buried, "Black Square" (1923) stood at the head of the coffin, Malevich's body was covered with a white canvas with a square sewn on, a black square was also painted on the coffin lid. Even the train and the back of the truck had black squares.
3. Scream
What is mysterious about the painting "The Scream" is not that it supposedly has a hard influence on people, forcing them to almost commit suicide, but that this painting is, in fact, realism for Edvard Munch, who at the time of writing this masterpiece was suffering from manic depressive psychosis. He even remembered exactly how he saw what he wrote.
“I was walking along the path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red, I stopped, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence - I looked at the blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and the city - my friends went on, and I stood trembling with excitement, feeling an endless cry piercing nature. "
4. Guernica
Picasso wrote Guernica in 1937. The picture is dedicated to the bombing of the city of Guernica. They say that when Picasso was summoned to the Gestapo in 1940 and asked about Guernica: "Did you do it?", The artist replied: "No, you did it."
Picasso painted a huge fresco no longer than a month, working 10-12 hours a day. "Guernica" is considered a reflection of all the horror of fascism, inhuman cruelty. Those who have seen the picture with their own eyes claim that it generates anxiety and sometimes panic.
5. Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan
We all know the painting "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan", usually calling it "Ivan the Terrible kills his son."
Meanwhile, the murder of his heir by Ivan Vasilyevich is a very controversial fact. So, in 1963, the tombs of Ivan the Terrible and his son were opened in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Research has led to the assertion that Tsarevich John was poisoned.
The content of poison in his remains is many times higher than the permissible norm. Interestingly, the same poison was found in the bones of Ivan Vasilievich. Scientists concluded that the royal family had been a victim of poisoners for several decades.
Ivan the Terrible did not kill his son. This is the version that Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, adhered to, for example. Seeing the famous painting by Repin at the exhibition, he was outraged and wrote to Emperor Alexander III: "You cannot call the picture historical, since this moment ... is purely fantastic." The version of the murder was based on the stories of the papal legate Antonio Possevino, who can hardly be called an uninterested person.
A real attempt was once made on the painting.
On January 16, 1913, twenty-nine-year-old icon painter-Old Believer Abram Balashov stabbed her three times with a knife, after which Ilya Repin had to paint the faces of Ivanov in the painting anew. After the incident, the then curator of the Tretyakov Gallery, Khruslov, upon learning about the vandalism, threw himself under the train.
6. Hands resist him
Bill Stoneham's painting, written by him in 1972, became famous, frankly, not very good fame. According to information on E-bay, the painting was found in a landfill some time after purchase. On the very first night, as the painting ended up in the house of the family that had found it, the daughter ran to her parents in tears, complaining that "the children in the painting are fighting."
Since that time, the picture has a very bad reputation. Kim Smith, who bought it in 2000, constantly receives angry letters demanding to burn the painting. Also in the newspapers they wrote that ghosts sometimes appear in the hills of California, like two peas in a pod, similar to the children from the Stoneham paintings.
7. Portrait of Lopukhina
Finally, the "bad picture" - the portrait of Lopukhina, painted by Vladimir Borovikovsky in 1797, after a while began to have a bad reputation. The portrait depicted Maria Lopukhina, who died shortly after painting the portrait. People began to say that the painting "takes away youth" and even "takes you to the grave."
It is not known for certain who started such a rumor, but after Pavel Tretyakov “fearlessly” acquired the portrait for his gallery, talk about the “mystery of the painting” subsided.
Today we would like to tell you a little about those people who, in our opinion, are some of the most unusual artists of our time. They use non-standard techniques, unusual ideas, putting all their creativity and talent into their unique works.
1. Lorenzo Duran
His way of creating paintings is based on historical research on paper cutting in China, Japan, Germany and Switzerland. He collects the leaves, washes them, dries them, compresses them and carefully carves his paintings on them.
2. Nina Aoyama
At first glance, it might seem that this young Frenchwoman is not doing anything special - she is just carving out of paper. But she sticks her clippings on fabric or glass, and it turns out such beauty!
3. Claire Morgan
British artist Claire Morgan creates unusual installations that freeze right in the air. The working material for the artist is dry plants, grains, insects, stuffed animals and fresh fruits. Thousands of installation details are pinned with pinpoint precision on a thin fishing line. Claire Morgan's aerial sculptures are dedicated to the Earth and all life on it.
4. Mike Stilkey
Mike Stilkey creates paintings from the spines of books. He builds a whole wall out of books, and writes his pictures on their spines. For a long time Mike dreamed of publishing an album with his paintings, but not a single publisher took up this. His painting did not find a response among critics. Then the artist decided to let the books tell about his work.
5. Jim Denevan
Jim draws patterns in the sand with unprecedented mathematical precision. Jim paints mainly on the beaches, but recently he has started to paint in the deserts as well. “I don't have as much time on the beach as in the deserts,” he says. "After all, the ocean washes everything away very quickly."
6. Vhils
His work is unusual in that he scratches them out on old plaster.
7. Bruce Munroe
In his work, he works with light. Not so long ago, he opened his installation of another field of light in the English city of Bath. It is a field dotted with lamps on thin plastic stems. Looks like a set for the movie "Avatar".
8. Jason Mecier
The problem of drug addiction is acute all over the world. In an attempt to draw the attention of the general public to the attention of the general public, the talented American artist Jason Mecier made portraits of the stars from tablets. The most interesting thing is that the artist used only pills as a material for his canvases, which are dispensed according to a special recipe, which he could not legally get. We can say that Jason committed an illegal act, but by doing so he drew attention to the illegal distribution of drugs.
9. Jennifer Maestre
