The Strange Secret Behind 10 "Haunted" Paintings

Have you ever felt breathless and overwhelmed by beautiful paintings? Alongside this, mysterious and strange stories have made them even more famous.

Art is a reflection of the soul, but can an artist put too much of their personal elements into a piece? Or worse, could there be something else attached to a work of art? Whether you believe it or not, there are some artworks that evoke strange, horrifying feelings. Perhaps some might say these paintings are truly haunted.

1. The Isleworth Mona Lisa

Most people visit the Louvre Museum in France just to admire this painting. The portrait of the Mona Lisa is familiar to everyone in the world; Leonardo da Vinci’s famous work still holds many mysteries to this day. One of the most famous mysteries is a condition known as Stendhal syndrome. This syndrome causes viewers of the painting to experience hallucinations, as if they are living within the artwork, with illusions even leading to suicidal thoughts.

There is another version of the Mona Lisa, believed to also be painted by Leonardo da Vinci, and it may have been created a few years earlier. This painting was discovered in a private collection about a century ago and is now managed by the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain. Hopefully, this painting will help resolve the mysteries surrounding the Mona Lisa.

2. The Stagecraft

Artist Laura P. painted this work from a photograph taken by James Kidd. Kidd claims that when the photo was taken, there was no man appearing on the left side of the image; this man suddenly appeared after the photo was developed.

The painting later became known to be haunted, as it frequently turned upside down on its own, without anyone touching it, and caused many eerie supernatural phenomena that forced people to burn it.

3. The Crying Boy

Italian artist Bruno Amadio painted 65 versions of The Crying Boy and sold them to tourists after World War II. This painting is said to be cursed in some parts of the UK. Legend has it that the artist lit a match in front of the boy’s eyes to make him cry before painting. To date, prints of The Crying Boy have been found in over 50 fire incidents across England.

4. The Rokeby Venus

This painting itself is a mystery, as the reflection of Venus in the mirror is not as beautiful and divine as one might imagine. This painting also contains several mysterious supernatural powers. All owners of this painting have faced misfortunes, and they have tried to dispose of it. In the early 20th century, the painting was kept at the National Gallery in London, continuing to cause many strange occurrences there. By 1914, a suffragette stabbed this painting with five knives, and since then, the curse of the painting has completely ceased.

5. The Rain Woman

The Rain Woman, painted by Ukrainian artist Svetlana Telets, is a very unusual image. The painting was completed in just 5 hours, and the female artist believes that her hand was guided by someone else while painting it. All who have purchased the painting report feelings of anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, and a belief that they are being watched.

6. Portrait of Bernardo de Galvez

The Galvez Hotel in the United States is a popular destination for ghost and horror story lovers. Here, the painting titled “Portrait of Bernardo de Galvez” has become a hot topic, causing many inexplicable phenomena. Many claim they always see the eyes in the painting following them, no matter what angle they view it from. Strangely, photographs of the portrait always come out deleted or imperfect.

7. The Hands Resist Him

Bill Stoneham, the creator of the artwork, states that he painted this piece based on childhood memories. Many claims have been made that this painting is haunted; owners report seeing the children in the painting move and fight at night. Many believe that the painting causes headaches, anxiety, and restlessness.

8. Pogo The Clown: A self-portrait of serial killer John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy is one of the worst serial killers in U.S. history, known as the “Killer Clown” because he performed as “Pogo the Clown” during the day. However, at night, he roamed the streets of Chicago, killing young men.

Gacy’s first murder gave him a “paralyzing orgasm”, which he described as an “extreme thrill.” This began a six-year killing spree that resulted in 33 young men dead, while Gacy portrayed himself as a respectable member of society, performing at parties and hospitals as “Pogo the Clown.”

Gacy also created a series of paintings, from depictions of Walt Disney’s Seven Dwarfs and portraits of Elvis to landscapes and illustrations of Jesus Christ. But none were as terrifying as his self-portrait, Pogo the Clown, depicting him in clown attire during the day.

Of course, those with supernatural inclinations believe that the souls of especially nefarious individuals can attach themselves to their possessions. In that case, the painting Pogo the Clown certainly seems suitable as an object capable of being haunted.

In 2001, musician Nikki Stone purchased Pogo the Clown for $3,000. However, shortly after, Stone reported that his dog died and his mother was diagnosed with cancer — events he believed might be related to Gacy’s eerie painting.

Hoping to rid himself of the cursed object, Stone lent the painting to a friend for safekeeping. That friend’s neighbor died in a car accident shortly thereafter, and another friend who offered to keep the painting attempted suicide.

“I just wanted to get rid of it,” Stone said about Pogo the Clown in 2005.

According to reports from Newsweek, this infamous self-portrait now belongs to Ghost Adventures star and paranormal investigator Zak Bagans, who owns and operates his own haunted museum. Along with Gacy’s painting, Bagans possesses several other items that once belonged to serial killers, including glasses from Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson’s hospital gown — and his bones, along with John Wayne Gacy’s brain.

9. Love Letters: The haunted painting of the Driskill Hotel

A copy of Love Letters.

The Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas, has a long history. Throughout its operation, the hotel has hosted presidents, rock stars, and all sorts of famous guests. There are also claims that the Driskill Hotel may have a permanent guest, a little girl ghost, but her residence is not a fixed room; instead, it is a painting.

The painting above is a modern copy of Love Letters by Charles Trevor Garland, executed by Richard King. The painting depicts a girl with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a love letter in the other.

According to Texas Hill Country, the story goes that in 1887, Samantha, the four-year-old daughter of Temple Lea Houston, tragically died at the Driskill Hotel. She chased after a runaway ball and fell down the hotel staircase.

It is believed that this girl resembles the one depicted in the painting Love Letters, leading paranormal enthusiasts to believe that her spirit currently resides within the painting.

Visitors to the Driskill Hotel have reported witnessing the expression of a girl in a painting change as they stared at it, or feeling as if the girl’s eyes were following them as they moved. Some individuals also indicated feeling uneasy when looking at the painting or experiencing a strange sensation as if being lifted off their feet.

Of course, the girl in the painting is not Samantha Houston, and since this artwork is a modern reinterpretation of an older piece, it did not actually exist during Samantha Houston’s time.

10. The Anguished Man: A Haunted Painting by an Anonymous Artist

A copy of The Anguished Man.

Commonly referred to as one of the most haunted paintings in the world, the story behind The Anguished Man resembles something out of a horror movie. Its current owner, Sean Robinson, detailed how he came to possess this chilling painting in an email to Dread Central.

“The painting The Anguished Man was gifted to me by my grandmother,” he wrote. “The identity of the artist remains unknown, but we know that the artist mixed his own blood into the paint and committed suicide shortly after the painting was completed… I can assure you that the original painting is kept in a safe place, and I have no intention of selling it.”

Robinson further stated that selling the painting would be “dangerous” because “it’s truly alive, and strange things really happen to those who are in the same room, or even the same house, as the painting.”

The mixture of blood and suicide certainly makes for great material for a haunting tale, but what exactly are the “strange things” Robinson refers to?

Robinson has recounted these alleged hauntings on his YouTube channel, where he claims to hear cries and moans within his home. He also stated that he has seen “the shadow of a man” lurking around him.

However, it is worth noting that in 2016, the rights to make a film based on the story of the painting were purchased – and without anyone else verifying Robinson’s claims about the painting’s origins and the supposed curse attached to it, it is quite possible that this story is entirely fictional.