Bizarre paintings. The most unusual artists
Art can not only inspire, but also charm and even frighten. When creating unusual artists, they embody the most hidden images, and sometimes they turn out to be very strange. However, such creations almost always have many fans.
What are the most unusual pictures of the world, who creates them and what can they tell about?
"The hands resist him"
This eerie picture begins its story in 1972. It was then that I came from California and found an old photograph in my archive. It depicted children: Bill himself and his sister, who died at the age of four. The artist was surprised that the photograph was taken in the house that the family acquired after the girl’s death. A mystical incident inspired Bill to create this unusual painting.
When the canvas was presented to the art critic, he soon died. It is difficult to say whether this can be called a coincidence, because the actor John Marley, who bought the painting, soon died. The canvas was lost and then found in a landfill. The little daughter of the new owners of the painting immediately began to notice something strange - she insisted that the painted children were fighting or coming to the door to her room. The father of the family placed a camera in the room with the painting that should have responded to movement, and it worked, but every time there was only noise on the film. When the painting was put up for online auction at the beginning of the new millennium, users began to complain of feeling unwell after viewing it. Nevertheless, they bought it. Kim Smith, the owner of a small art gallery, decided to purchase something unusual as an exhibit.
The story of the painting does not end - the evil emanating from it is now noted by visitors to the exhibition.
"Crying Boy"
When mentioning unusual paintings by famous artists, one cannot fail to mention this one. The whole world knows about the “cursed” painting called “The Crying Boy”. To create it, he used his own son as a model. The boy could not cry just like that, and his father deliberately upset him by scaring him with lit matches. One day a child shouted to his father: “Burn yourself!”, and the curse turned out to be effective - the baby soon died of pneumonia, and his father burned alive in the house. Attention to the painting was drawn in 1985, when fires began to occur throughout Northern England. People died in residential buildings, and only a simple reproduction of a crying child remained intact. Notoriety still haunts the painting now - many simply do not risk hanging it in their homes. Even more unusual is that the whereabouts of the original remain unknown.
"Scream"
Unusual paintings constantly attract public attention and even provoke attempts to repeat the masterpiece. One of these paintings, which has become iconic in modern culture, is “The Scream” by Munch. This is a mysterious, mystical image that to some seems like the fantasy of a mentally ill person, to others a prediction of an environmental disaster, and to others a completely absurd portrait of a mummy. One way or another, the atmosphere of the canvas attracts you and does not allow you to remain indifferent. Unusual paintings are often full of details, and “Scream,” on the contrary, is emphatically simple - it uses two main shades, and the depiction of the appearance of the central character is simplified to the point of primitivism. But it is precisely this deformed world that makes the work especially attractive.
Its history is also unusual - the work was stolen more than once. Nevertheless, it has been preserved and remains in the museum, inspiring filmmakers to create emotional films, and artists to search for stories no less expressive than this one.
"Guernica"
Picasso painted some very unusual paintings, but one of them is especially memorable. The expressive “Guernica” was created as a personal protest against Nazi actions in the city of the same name. It is full of the artist’s personal experiences. Each element of the picture is full of deep symbolism: the figures are running away from the fire, a bull is trampling a warrior whose pose resembles a crucifixion, at his feet are crushed flowers and a dove, a skull and a broken sword. in the style of a newspaper illustration is impressive and has a strong impact on the viewer’s emotions.
"Mona Lisa"
By creating unusual paintings with his own hands, Leonardo da Vinci preserved his own name in eternity. His paintings have not been forgotten for the sixth century. The most important of them is “La Gioconda”, or “Mona Lisa”. Surprisingly, in the diaries of the genius there are no records of work on this portrait. No less unusual is the number of versions about who is depicted there. Some believe that this is an ideal female image or the artist’s mother, some see it as a self-portrait, and others see it as a student of da Vinci. According to the “official” opinion, Mona Lisa was the wife of a Florentine merchant. Whatever the reality, the portrait is truly unusual. A barely noticeable smile curves the girl’s lips, and her eyes are stunning - it seems as if this picture is looking at the world, and not the audience peering into it. Like many other unusual paintings of the world, “La Gioconda” was made using a special technique: the thinnest layers of paint with the smallest strokes, so elusive that neither a microscope nor an X-ray can identify traces of the artist’s work. It seems that the girl in the picture is alive, and the light smoky light that surrounds her is real.
"The Temptation of Saint Anthony"
Of course, the most unusual pictures of the world cannot be studied without familiarizing yourself with the work of Salvador Dali. The following story is connected with his amazing work “The Temptation of St. Anthony”. At the time of its creation, there was a competition to choose an actor for the film adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s “Belarus Ami.” The winner was supposed to create the image of a tempted saint. What was happening inspired the artist with a theme that was also used by his favorite masters, for example, Bosch. He created a triptych on this topic. Cezanne also depicted a similar work. The unusual thing is that Saint Anthony is not just a righteous man who saw a sinful vision. This is a desperate figure of a man, faced with sins in the form of animals on thin spider legs - if he succumbs to temptation, the legs of the spiders will break and destroy him under them.
"The night Watch"
Unusual paintings by artists often disappear or end up at the center of mystical events. Nothing like this happened with Rembrandt’s “Night Watch,” but there are still many mysteries associated with the canvas.
The plot is obvious only at first glance - the militia is going on a campaign, taking weapons with them, each hero is full of patriotism and emotions, everyone has individuality and character. And questions immediately arise. Who is this little girl who looks like a bright angel in the military crowd? A symbolic mascot for the squad or a way to balance the composition? But that’s not even important. Previously, the size of the painting was different - the customers didn’t like it, and they cut the canvas. It was placed in a hall for feasts and meetings, where the canvas was covered with soot for decades. It is now impossible to know what some of the colors were. Even the most thorough restoration cannot remove the soot from tallow candles, so the viewer can only guess about some details.
Fortunately, the masterpiece is now safe. And at least its modern appearance is carefully protected. A separate room is dedicated to him, something that not all famous unusual paintings can boast of.
"Sunflowers"
The list, which includes the most famous unusual paintings of the world, is completed by Van Gogh. His works are filled with deep emotionality and hide behind them the tragic story of a genius unrecognized during his lifetime. One of the most memorable paintings is the canvas “Sunflowers”, which concentrates the artist’s characteristic shades and strokes.
But that’s not the only reason it’s interesting. The fact is that the painting is constantly copied, and the number of copies successfully sold exceeds those that other unusual paintings can boast of. At the same time, despite such popularity, the picture still remains unique. And no one really succeeded except Van Gogh.
Art can be anything. Some people see the beauty of nature and convey it with a brush or a chisel, some take stunning photographs of the human body, and some find beauty in the terrible - this is the style Caravaggio and Edvard Munch worked in. Modern artists do not lag behind the founding fathers.
1. Dado
Yugoslavian Dado was born in 1933 and died in 2010. At first glance, his work may seem completely ordinary or even pleasant - this is due to the choice of colors: many horror artists choose black or red, but Dado loved pastel shades.
But take a closer look at paintings like The Big Farm from 1963 or The Football Player from 1964, and you will see grotesque creatures in them. Their faces are full of pain or suffering, their bodies show tumors or extra organs, or their bodies are simply irregular in shape. In fact, pictures like “The Big Farm” are much more frightening than the sheer horror - precisely because at first glance you don’t notice anything terrible in them.
2. Keith Thompson
Keith Thompson is more of a commercial artist than an artist. He created the monsters for Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim and Scott Westerfield's Leviathan. His work is done in a technique that you'd expect to see on Magic: The Gathering cards rather than in a museum.
Look at his painting “The Creature from Pripyat”: the monster is made from several animals and is terribly ugly, but it gives an excellent idea of Thompson’s technique. The monster even has a story - it is supposedly a product of the Chernobyl disaster. Of course, the monster is somewhat contrived, as if it came straight out of the 1950s, but that doesn’t make it any less creepy.
The SCP Foundation adopted this creature as its mascot, calling it SCP-682. But Thompson still has many similar monsters in his arsenal, and there are worse ones.
3. Junji Ito
On the subject of commercial artists: some of them draw comics. When it comes to horror comics, Junji Ito is a champion. His monsters are not just grotesque: the artist carefully draws every wrinkle, every fold on the creatures’ bodies. This is what scares people, and not the irrationality of monsters.
For example, in his comic "The Riddle of Amigara Folt", he strips people and sends them into a human-shaped hole in solid rock - the closer we see this hole, the scarier it is, but even "from a distance" it seems frightening.
In his comic book series Uzumaki (Spiral), there is a guy obsessed with spirals. At first his obsession seems funny, and then it’s scary. Moreover, it becomes scary even before the hero’s obsession becomes magic, with the help of which he turns a person into something inhuman, but at the same time alive.
Ito's works stand out among all Japanese manga - his "normal" characters look unusually realistic and even cute, and the monsters seem even more creepy against their background.
4. Zdzislaw Beksinski
If an artist says, “I can’t imagine what rationality means in painting,” he’s probably not painting kittens.
Polish painter Zdzislaw Beksinski was born in 1929. For decades, he created nightmarish images in the genre of fantastic realism until his terrible death in 2005 (he was stabbed 17 times). The most fruitful period in his work was between 1960 and 1980: then he created highly detailed images, which he himself called “photographs of his dreams.”
According to Beksiński, he did not care about the meaning of a particular painting, but some of his works clearly symbolize something. For example, in 1985 he created the painting “Trollforgatok”. The artist grew up in a country devastated by the Second World War, so the black figures in the picture can represent Polish citizens, and the head is a kind of ruthless authority.
The artist himself claimed that he had nothing of the kind in mind. In fact, Beksinski said about this picture that it should be taken as a joke - that’s what truly black humor means.
5. Wayne Barlow
Thousands of artists have tried to depict Hell, but Wayne Barlow clearly succeeded. Even if you haven’t heard his name, you’ve probably seen his work. He took part in the work on such films as James Cameron's Avatar (the director personally praised him), Pacific Rim, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. But one of his most outstanding works can be called a book published in 1998 called “Inferno”.
His hell is not just dungeons with demonic lords and armies. Barlow said: “Hell is complete indifference to human suffering.” His demons often show interest in human bodies and souls and behave more like experimenters - they ignore the pain of others. For his demons, people are not objects of hatred at all, but simply a means for idle entertainment, nothing more.
6. Tetsuya Ishida
In Isis's acrylic paintings, people are often transformed into objects such as packaging, conveyor belts, urinals, or even hemorrhoid pillows. He also has visually pleasing paintings of people merging with nature or escaping into the magical land of their imagination. But such works are much dimmer than paintings in which restaurant workers turn into mannequins pumping food into customers as if they were servicing cars at a gas station.
Regardless of one's opinion of the artist's precision and insight or the vividness of his metaphors, there is no denying that the style of his work is eerie. Any humor in Isis goes hand in hand with disgust and fear. His career came to an end in 2005 when 31-year-old Ishida was hit by a train in what was almost certainly a suicide. The works he left behind are valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars.
7. Dariusz Zawadzki
Zavadsky was born in 1958. Like Beksinski, he works in the style of eerie fantastic realism. His teachers at art school told Zavadsky that he did not have very good eyesight and a poor eye, so he would not become an artist. Well, they clearly jumped to conclusions.
Zavadsky's works contain elements of steampunk: he often draws robot-like creatures with working mechanisms visible under their artificial skin. For example, take a look at the 2007 oil painting “Nest.” The poses of the birds are the same as those of living birds, but the frame is clearly metal, barely covered with scraps of skin. The picture may cause disgust, but at the same time it attracts the eye - you want to look at all the details.
8. Joshua Hoffin
Joshua Hoffin was born in 1973 in Emporia, Kansas. He takes terrifying photographs in which fairy tales familiar from childhood take on terrible features - the story, of course, can be recognized, but at the same time its meaning is greatly distorted.
Many of his works look too staged and unnatural to be truly frightening. But there are also series of photographs like “Pickman’s Masterpieces” - this is a tribute to one of Lovecraft’s characters, the artist Pickman.
In the photographs from 2008, which you can see here, is his daughter Chloe. The girl's face shows almost no emotion, and she hardly looks towards the audience. The contrast is frightening: a family photo on the bedside table, a girl in pink pajamas - and huge cockroaches.
9. Patrizia Piccinini
Piccinini's sculptures are sometimes very different from each other: some sculptures are irregularly shaped motorcycles, others are strange balloons of hot air. But mostly she creates sculptures that are very, very uncomfortable to stand in the same room with. They even look creepy in photographs.
In the 2004 work “Indivisible,” a humanoid is pressed against the back of a normal human child. What is most disturbing is the element of trust and affection - as if the child's innocence was cruelly used to his detriment.
Of course, Piccinini's work is criticized. They even said about “Indivisible” that it was not a sculpture, but some kind of real animal. But no - it’s just a figment of her imagination, and the artist continues to create her works from fiberglass, silicone, and hair.
10. Mark Powell
The works of Australian Mark Powell are truly shocking. His 2012 show featured a series of compositions in which fantastic creatures evolve, devour and excrete each other from their own bodies, reproduce and disintegrate. The textures of the creatures and environments are extremely convincing, and the body language of the figures is precisely chosen to make the situations seem as ordinary - and therefore convincing - as possible.
Of course, the Internet could not help but give the artist his due. The aforementioned "SCP Foundation" took the disgusting monster from the image above and made it part of a story called "The Flesh That Hates." There are also many horror stories associated with his work.
Among the peaceful pastorals, noble portraits and other works of art that evoke only positive emotions, there are strange and shocking paintings. We have collected 15 paintings that make viewers horrified. Moreover, they all belong to the brushes of world famous artists.
"Guernica"
One of Pablo Picasso's most famous works, “Guernica,” is a story about the tragedy of war and the suffering of innocent people. This work received worldwide recognition and became a reminder of the horrors of war.
"Failure of Mind to Matter"
“The Loss of Mind to Matter” is 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.
"Dante and Virgil in Hell"
Adolphe William Bouguereau's painting Dante and Virgil in the Inferno was inspired by a short scene of a battle between two damned souls from Dante's Inferno.
"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.
"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 heightened the horror effect of the scene by adding the caption: "There is no redemption in hell."
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 famous film 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.
"Scream"
The Scream is the most famous painting by Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch. The painting depicts a desperately screaming man against a blood-colored sky. It is known that The Scream was inspired by a serene evening walk during which Munch witnessed the blood-red setting sun.
"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 subject is the gloomy 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 the wall of his house in 1820 - 1823. "Saturn Devouring His Son" 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 "Nightmare" by the 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, believed to be influenced by the works of the famous Italian artist Caravaggio.
If the paintings seem too gloomy to hang them at home, you can use one of them.
Sometimes inspiration takes unexpected turns! Warning! The content of this material is intended for adults (18 years of age or older) only. Human fantasy truly has no boundaries. In this collection we will meet the most unusual, eccentric, desperate artists in the world. 
Tim Patch. The paintings of this artist cannot be called a great work, but what is striking is not his paintings, but the way he executes them. Tim draws his creations with nothing more than his loin and penis. In an interview, he says that there is no limit to his inspiration, that's not all! The artist gladly demonstrates his skills in public, not caring that his way of drawing may be adopted by others, he is not afraid of competitors! 
Kira Ain Warzeji. This artist uses her body to apply paint to canvas, and it is thanks to this that she has become popular. Kira paints pictures with her bust, which, by the way, is not small in size (38DD). By creating her paintings, the artist pleases not only herself, but also half of humanity. 
Chris Truman. He dedicates his paintings to his loved ones, family and friends. But how does he draw them? Instead of regular paints, he uses dead ants. This very unusual way of expressing love for art is still famous in its circles. His paintings are sold and replenish the creator’s account by an average of $5,000. 
Vinicius Quesada. This artist decided to make his paintings “environmentally friendly” and paints them with nothing more than his own blood. At first he dedicated this gesture to environmental protection in order to attract public attention, but after that he continued to create with blood. The artist’s norm is 450 ml of blood per month, this is enough for him to create another work of art. It is worth saying that the price of his paintings starts at $10,000. 
Jordan McKenzie. This artist creates with liquid from the human body. No, not with blood like his colleagues. For his works he uses his hands, canvas and... his penis. More likely not even the organ itself, but its seed. Yes, this eccentric artist paints pictures with his sperm. He splashes it onto the canvas, processes it with paints and the painting is ready! 
Millie Brown. A woman who creates vomit. For some, this method seems disgusting, some find it amazing, and some consider it a disease, but nevertheless, the paintings of this artist are sold for millions of dollars. Millie drinks colored milk and has learned to make herself vomit at any time. She herself does not consider herself unhealthy, and is proud of her exclusive way. 
Continuing the theme of drawing with body parts, it is impossible not to mention the artist Anya Kay. He paints his pictures with his tongue, without fear of serious consequences for the body. Despite the nausea and headache, the creator is proud of his skill and considers a copy of the painting “The Last Supper” to be the crown of his collection. 
Lani Beloso. This artist paints her works with menstrual blood. In general, the theme of blood is very attractive to artists, but Lani surpassed everyone. She created a series of works called "Period Piece" ("Works of Menstrual Art"). The project consisted of 12 paintings, representing the artist’s annual menstrual cycle. 
Martin von Ostrowski. I think you guessed what paints Martin uses. Yes, yes, you read that right, this is human excrement. In an interview, he said: “An artist has the right to use materials with a particle of the author in order to show or prove that he is part of the organic world. My genes are preserved in the sperm, which play an important role in the reproduction of a human being along with the female egg. And in mine in feces there are microorganisms that live in symbiosis with digested food. So the artist is part of a large complex of an innumerable organic world, and in order not to get lost in it, he must leave a tangible mark on the art he creates." Would you hang such a picture in your living room? 
Chris Ofili. This artist paints paintings that depict aspects of Nigerian heritage. But the most interesting thing is that he creates his works with painted elephant excrement. Ofili won the Turner Prize in 2003. His work can be seen in major museums around the world (Brooklyn Art Museum, Tate Britain, Tate Modern London and the Studio Museum in Harlem). Attention! Not a single elephant was harmed. 
Val Thompson. Another artist who creates her paintings in a very eccentric way. The essence of her unconventional approach to art lies in the material she uses to create her paintings. Human ashes after cremation. Her paintings are a place where death is closely intertwined with the beauty of fine art. 
Hong Yu. This unique artist managed to combine sports, strength and art. With her gentle hands, the girl dips a basketball in paint and paints it with prints on canvas. 
Karen Eland. She doesn't drink beer, she draws with it. One painting takes her about half a liter of intoxicating drink and several days of painstaking work. In an interview, the woman says that she painted coffee for 14 years, but then decided to experiment with other drinks, tea, beer and liqueur. In the end, beer turned out to be the best replacement for watercolor paints. 
Xiang Chen. Upholding the ancient oriental method of painting, Xiang paints with almost meter-long brushes, holding them for centuries! The metal end of the instrument is inserted under the eyelid and secured there. The artist discovered this ability in himself at the age of 16, realizing that an object caught in his eye did not cause him discomfort!
