The most unusual paintings by famous artists: photo and description. The Most Absurd Paintings Sold for Millions of Dollars

Fine art can give a whole range of emotions. Some pictures make you look at them for hours, while others literally shock, amaze and blow up your worldview. There are such masterpieces that make you think and look for a secret meaning. Some paintings are shrouded in mystical mysteries, while in others the main thing is their exorbitantly high price.

There are many strange paintings in the history of world painting. In our rating, we will deliberately not mention Salvador Dali, who was a master in this genre and whose name comes to mind first. And although the very concept of strangeness is subjective, one can single out those well-known works that are clearly out of the ordinary.

Edvard Munch "The Scream" The work, measuring 91x73.5 cm, was created in 1893. Munch painted it in oils, pastels and tempera, today the painting is kept in the Oslo National Gallery. The artist's creation has become a landmark for impressionism, it is generally one of the most famous paintings in the world today. Munch himself told the story of its creation in this way: “I was walking along the path with two friends. At this time the sun was setting. Suddenly the sky turned blood red, I stopped, 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 there, trembling with excitement, feeling the endless cry piercing nature." There are two versions of the interpretation of the meaning drawn. It can be considered that the depicted character is seized with horror and silently screams, pressing his hands to his ears. Another version says that the man closed his ears from the screaming around him. In total, Munch created as many as 4 versions of "The Scream". Some experts believe that this picture is a classic manifestation of the manic-depressive psychosis from which the artist suffered. When Munch was treated in the clinic, he did not return to this canvas.

Paul Gauguin "Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?". In the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, you can find this impressionist work measuring 139.1 x 374.6 cm. It was painted in oil on canvas in 1897-1898. This profound work was written by Gauguin in Tahiti, where he retired from the hustle and bustle of Parisian life. The picture became so important for the artist that at the end of it he even wanted to commit suicide. Gauguin believed that she was head and shoulders the best that he had created before. The artist believed that he could no longer create something better or similar, he simply had nothing more to strive for. Gauguin lived another 5 years, proving the truth of his judgments. He himself said that his main picture should be viewed from right to left. There are three main groups of figures on it, which personify the questions with which the canvas is titled. Three women with a child show the beginning of life, in the middle people symbolize maturity, while old age is represented by an elderly woman who is waiting for her death. It seems that she has come to terms with this and is thinking about something of her own. At her feet is a white bird, symbolizing the meaninglessness of words.

Pablo Picasso "Guernica" Picasso's creation is kept in the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. A large painting measuring 349 by 776 cm is painted in oil on canvas. This canvas-fresco was created in 1937. The picture tells about the raid of fascist volunteer pilots on the city of Guernica. As a result of those events, the city with a population of 6 thousand people was completely wiped off the face of the earth. The artist created this picture in just a month. In the early days, Picasso worked for 10-12 hours, in his very first sketches the main idea was already visible. As a result, the picture became one of the best illustrations of all the horrors of fascism, cruelty and human grief. In "Guernica" one can consider a scene of atrocity, violence, death, suffering and helplessness. Although the reasons for this are not explicitly stated, they are clear from history. It is said that in 1940 Pablo Picasso was even summoned to the Gestapo in Paris. He was immediately asked: "Did you do it?". To which the artist replied: "No, you did it."

Jan van Eyck "Portrait of the Arnolfinis". This painting was painted in 1434 in oil on wood. The dimensions of the masterpiece are 81.8x59.7 cm, and it is stored in the London National Gallery. Presumably, the painting depicts Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini with his wife. The work is one of the most difficult in the Western school of painting during the Northern Renaissance. This famous painting has a huge number of symbols, allegories and various clues. What is only the signature of the artist "Jan van Eyck was here." As a result, the picture is not just a work of art, but a real historical document. After all, it depicts a real event that van Eyck captured. This picture has recently become very popular in Russia, because Arnolfini's resemblance to Vladimir Putin is noticeable to the naked eye.

Mikhail Vrubel "Seated Demon". The Tretyakov Gallery holds this masterpiece by Mikhail Vrubel, painted in oils in 1890. The dimensions of the canvas are 114x211 cm. The demon depicted here is surprising. He appears as a sad young man with long hair. Usually people do not imagine evil spirits in this way. Vrubel himself said about his most famous canvas that, in his understanding, the demon is not so much an evil spirit as a suffering one. At the same time, one cannot deny him authority and majesty. Vrubel's demon is an image, first of all, of the human spirit, reigning inside us of constant struggle with ourselves and doubts. This creature, surrounded by flowers, tragically clasped its hands, its huge eyes look sadly into the distance. The whole composition expresses the constraint of the demon's figure. It is as if he is sandwiched in this image between the top and bottom of the picture frame.

Vasily Vereshchagin "The Apotheosis of War". The picture was painted in 1871, but in it the author seemed to foresee the horrors of future World Wars. Canvas size 127x197 cm is stored in the Tretyakov Gallery. Vereshchagin is considered one of the best battle painters in Russian painting. However, he did not write wars and battles because he loved them. The artist tried to convey to people his negative attitude towards the war by means of fine art. Once Vereshchagin even promised not to write battle pictures anymore. After all, the artist took the grief of every wounded and killed soldier too close to his heart. The result of such a heartfelt attitude to this topic was the "Apotheosis of War". A terrible and bewitching picture depicts a mountain of human skulls on a field with ravens around. Vereshchagin created an emotional canvas, behind each skull in a huge pile, the history and fate of personalities and people close to them can be traced. The artist himself sarcastically called this painting a still life, because it depicts dead nature. All the details of the "Apotheosis of War" scream about death and emptiness, this can be seen even in the yellow background of the earth. And the blue of the sky only emphasizes death. The idea of ​​the horrors of war is emphasized by bullet holes and saber marks on the skulls.

Grant Wood "American Gothic". This small painting is 74 by 62 cm. It was created in 1930 and is now kept at the Art Institute of Chicago. The painting is one of the most famous examples of American art of the last century. Already in our time, the name of "American Gothic" is often mentioned in the media. The picture depicts a rather gloomy father and his daughter. Numerous details tell about the severity, puritanism and rigidity of these people. They have disgruntled faces, aggressive pitchforks appear in the middle of the picture, and the couple's clothes are old-fashioned even by the standards of that time. Even the seam on the farmer's clothes follows the shape of the pitchfork, doubling the threat to those who encroach on his way of life. The details of the picture can be studied endlessly, physically feeling discomfort. Interestingly, at one time at a competition at the Art Institute of Chicago, the picture was accepted by the judges as a humorous one. But the people of Iowa offended the artist because he put them in such an unsightly perspective. The model for the woman was Wood's sister, but the painter's dentist became the prototype of the angry man.

Rene Magritte Lovers. The painting was painted in 1928 in oil on canvas. In this case, there are two options. On one of them, a man and a woman are kissing, only their heads are wrapped in a white cloth. In another version of the painting, the lovers look at the viewer. Drawn and surprises, and fascinates. Figures without faces symbolize the blindness of love. It is known that lovers do not see anyone around, but we cannot see their true feelings. Even for each other, these people, blinded by feeling, are actually a mystery. And although the main message of the picture seems clear, "Lovers" still make you look at them and think about love. In Magritte, in general, almost all the paintings are puzzles, which are completely impossible to solve. After all, these canvases raise the main questions about the meaning of our life. In them, the artist speaks of the illusory nature of what we see, that there are many mysterious things around us that we try not to notice.

Marc Chagall "Walk". The painting was painted in oil on canvas in 1917 and is now kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery. In his works, Marc Chagall is usually serious, but here he allowed himself to show feelings. The picture expresses the personal happiness of the artist, it is full of love and allegories. His "Walk" is a self-portrait, where Chagall depicted his wife Bella next to him. His chosen one soars in the sky, she is about to drag the artist there, who is already almost off the ground, touching it only with the tips of his shoes. In the other hand of the man is a titmouse. We can say that this is how Chagall portrayed his happiness. He has a crane in the sky in the form of a beloved woman, and a titmouse in his hands, by which he meant his work.

Hieronymus Bosch "Garden of Earthly Delights". This canvas measuring 389x220 cm is kept in the Spanish Museum Pravo. Bosch painted the oil painting on wood between 1500 and 1510. This is Bosch's most famous triptych, although the painting has three parts, it is named after the central one, dedicated to voluptuousness. The meaning of the strange picture is constantly being debated, there is no such interpretation of it that would be recognized as the only true one. Interest in the triptych appears because of the many small details that express the main idea. There are translucent figures, unusual structures, monsters, nightmares and visions that have come true, and hellish variations of reality. The artist was able to look at all this with a sharp and searching look, having managed to combine dissimilar elements into a single canvas. Some researchers tried to see in the picture a reflection of human life, which the author showed in vain. Others found images of love, someone found the triumph of voluptuousness. However, it is doubtful that the author was trying to glorify carnal pleasures. After all, the figures of people are depicted with cold detachment and innocence. Yes, and the church authorities reacted quite favorably to this painting by Bosch.

Gustav Klimt "Three Ages of Woman" This painting is housed in Rome's National Gallery of Modern Art. The square canvas, 180 cm wide, was painted in oil on canvas in 1905. This picture expresses both joy and sadness at the same time. The artist in three figures was able to show the whole life of a woman. The first, still a child, is extremely carefree. A mature woman expresses peace, and the last age symbolizes despair. At the same time, the middle age is organically woven into the life ornament, and the old one stands out noticeably against its background. The clear contrast between the young woman and the elderly is symbolic. If the flourishing of life is accompanied by numerous possibilities and changes, then the last phase is one of ingrained constancy and conflict with reality. Such a picture attracts attention and makes you think about the artist's intention, its depth. It contains all life with its inevitability and metamorphoses.

Egon Schiele "Family". This 152.5x162.5 cm canvas was painted in oil in 1918. Now it is stored in the Vienna Belvedere. Schiele's teacher was Klimt himself, but the student did not diligently try to copy him, looking for his own methods of expression. We can safely say that Schiele's work is even much more tragic, frightening and strange than Klimt's. Some elements today would be called pornographic, there are many different perversions here, naturalism is present in all its beauty. At the same time, the pictures are literally permeated with some kind of aching despair. The pinnacle of Schiele's work and his most recent painting is The Family. In this canvas, despair is brought to a maximum, while the work itself turned out to be the least strange for the author. After Schiele's pregnant wife died from the Spanish flu, and shortly before his death, this masterpiece was created. Only 3 days passed between the two deaths, they were enough for the artist to depict himself with his wife and his unborn child. At that time, Schiele was only 28 years old.

Frida Kahlo "The Two Fridas" The painting was born in 1939. Mexican artist Frida Kahlo became famous after the release of a film about her with Salma Hayek in the title role. The basis of the artist's work was her self-portraits. She herself explained this fact as follows: "I write myself because I spend a lot of time alone and because I am the topic that I know best." It is interesting that Frida does not smile on any of her canvases. Her face is serious, even somewhat mournful. The fused thick eyebrows and a barely noticeable mustache above the pursed lips express maximum seriousness. The ideas of the paintings lie in the figures, the background and the details of what surrounds Frida. The symbolism of the paintings is based on the national traditions of Mexico, closely intertwined with the old Indian mythology. "Two Fridas" is one of the best pictures of the Mexican. It displays the masculine and feminine in an original way, having a single circulatory system. Thus, the artist showed the unity and integrity of these two opposites.

Claude Monet "Waterloo Bridge. Fog Effect". In the St. Petersburg Hermitage you can find this painting by Monet. It was painted in oil on canvas in 1899. Upon close examination of the picture, it appears as a purple spot with thick strokes applied to it. However, moving away from the canvas, the viewer understands all his magic. At first, vague semicircles passing through the center of the picture become visible, the outlines of the boats appear. And from a distance of a couple of meters, you can already see all the elements of the picture that are connected in a logical chain.

Jackson Pollock "Number 5, 1948". Pollock is a classic of the abstract expressionist genre. His most famous painting is by far the most expensive in the world. And the artist painted it in 1948, simply pouring oil paint on a fiberboard measuring 240x120 cm on the floor. In 2006, this painting was sold at Sotheby's for $140 million. The previous owner, collector and film producer David Giffen, sold it to Mexican financier David Martinez. Pollock said that he decided to move away from such familiar artist tools as an easel, paints and brushes. His tools were sticks, knives, shovels and pouring paint. He also used a mixture of it with sand or even broken glass. Starting to create. Pollock gives himself up to inspiration without even realizing what he is doing. Only then comes the realization of the perfect. At the same time, the artist has no fear of destroying the image or changing it inadvertently - the picture begins to live its own life. Pollock's task is to help her be born, to come out. But if the master loses contact with his creation, then the result will be chaos and dirt. If successful, the picture will embody pure harmony, the ease of receiving and embodying inspiration.

Joan Miro "Man and woman in front of a heap of excrement". This painting is now kept in the artist's fund in Spain. It was painted in oil on a sheet of copper in 1935 in just a week from 15 to 22 October. The size of the creation is only 23x32 cm. Despite such a provocative name, the picture speaks of the horrors of civil wars. The author himself thus depicted the events of those years taking place in Spain. Miro tried to show a period of unrest. In the picture, you can see a motionless man and woman, who, nevertheless, are drawn to each other. The canvas is saturated with ominous poisonous flowers, together with enlarged genitals, it looks deliberately disgusting and disgustingly sexy.

Jacek Yerka "Erosion". In the works of this Polish neo-surrealist, pictures of reality, intertwined, give rise to a new reality. In some ways, even touching pictures are extremely detailed. They feel the echoes of the surrealists of the past, from Bosch to Dali. Yerka grew up in an atmosphere of medieval architecture that miraculously survived the bombings of World War II. He began to draw even before entering the university. There they tried to change his style to a more modern and less detailed one, but Yerka himself retained his individuality. Today, his unusual paintings are exhibited not only in Poland, but also in Germany, France, Monaco, and the USA. They are in a number of collections around the world.

Bill Stoneham "Hands Resist Him" The painting, painted in 1972, is hard to call a classic of painting. However, there is no doubt that it is among the strangest creations of artists. The picture depicts a boy, a doll stands next to him, and numerous palms are pressed against the glass from behind. This canvas is strange, mysterious and somewhat mystical. It has already become legendary. They say that because of this picture someone died, and the children in it are alive. She looks really creepy. It is not surprising that the picture evokes fears and terrible fantasies for people with a sick psyche. Stoneham himself assured that he painted himself at the age of 5 years. The door behind the boy is a barrier between reality and the world of dreams. The doll is a guide that can lead a child from one world to another. Hands are alternative lives or possibilities of a person. The painting became famous in February 2000. It was put up for sale on eBay, saying it was haunted. In the end, Hands Resist Him was bought for $1,025 by Kim Smith. Soon the buyer was literally inundated with letters with terrible stories associated with the painting, and demands to destroy this canvas.

Italian scientists say they have found remains that may belong to Lisa del Giocondo. Perhaps the mystery of the "Mona Lisa" will be revealed. In honor of this, we recall the most mysterious paintings in history.

1. Mona Lisa
The first thing that comes to mind when it comes to mysterious paintings, or mystery paintings, is the Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1503-1505. Gruyet wrote that this picture can drive anyone who, having seen enough of it, will start talking about it, crazy.
There are many "mysteries" in this work by da Vinci. Art historians write dissertations on the tilt of the Mona Lisa's hand, medical specialists make diagnoses (from such that Mona Lisa has no front teeth to such that Mona Lisa is a man). There is even a version that 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 him by fingerprint. So the Mona Lisa also became the first success of fingerprinting, and a huge success of art market marketing.

2. Black square


Everyone knows that the "Black Square" is not actually black, and not a square. It's really not a square. In the catalog for the exhibition, it was declared by Malevich as a "quadrangle". And really not black. The artist did not use black paint.
Less well known is that Malevich considered The Black Square to be his finest 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 sewn square, a black square was also drawn on the lid of the coffin. 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 allegedly has a hard effect 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 suffered from manic depressive psychosis. He even recalled 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 paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned against 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 the endless cry piercing nature.

4. Guernica


Picasso painted "Guernica" in 1937. The picture is dedicated to the bombardment of the city of Guernica. They say that when Picasso was summoned to the Gestapo in 1940 and asked about Guernica: “Did you do that?”, the artist replied: “No, you did it.”
Picasso painted a huge fresco for 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. Studies have made it possible to assert 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 Vasilyevich. Scientists have concluded that the royal family had been the victim of poisoners for several decades.
Ivan the Terrible did not kill his son. This version was adhered to, for example, by the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, Konstantin Pobedonostsev. Seeing the famous painting by Repin at the exhibition, he was outraged and wrote to Emperor Alexander III: “You can’t call the painting 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 a disinterested person.
There was once a real attempt on the painting.
On January 16, 1913, the twenty-nine-year-old Old Believer icon painter Abram Balashov stabbed her three times with a knife, after which the faces of the Ivanovs depicted in the painting by Ilya Repin had to be painted virtually anew. After the incident, the then curator of the Tretyakov Gallery Khruslov, having learned about the vandalism, threw himself under the train.

6. Hands resist him


The picture of Bill Stoneham, written by him in 1972, became famous, frankly, not the best fame. According to information on E-bay, the painting was found in a landfill some time after the purchase. On the very first night, as the painting ended up in the house of the family that found it, the daughter ran to her parents in tears, complaining that "the children in the picture are fighting."
Since that time, the picture has a very bad reputation. Kim Smith, who bought it in 2000, constantly receives angry letters demanding that the painting be burned. Also, the newspapers wrote that ghosts sometimes appear in the hills of California, like two peas in a pod, like the children from the Stoneham painting.

7. Portrait of Lopukhina


Finally, the "bad picture" - a portrait of Lopukhina, painted by Vladimir Borovikovsky in 1797, after some time began to have a bad reputation. The portrait depicted Maria Lopukhina, who died shortly after the portrait was painted. People began to say that the picture "takes away youth" and even "reduces 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.

Art can be anything. Someone sees the beauty of nature and conveys it with a brush or a cutter, someone takes amazing photographs of the human body, and someone finds beauty in a terrible one - Caravaggio and Edvard Munch worked in this style. Modern artists are not far behind the founding fathers.

1. Dado

Yugoslav 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, and Dado liked pastel shades.

But look closely at pictures like Big Farm in 1963 or Football Player in 1964 and you'll see grotesque creatures in them. Their faces are full of pain or suffering, tumors or extra organs are visible on their bodies, or bodies are simply irregular in shape. In fact, pictures like "Big Farm" are much more frightening than sheer horror - precisely because at first glance you do not notice anything terrible in them.

2. Keith Thompson

Keith Thompson is more of a commercial artist than a person of art. He designed the monsters for Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim and Scott Westerfield's Leviathan. His work is done in a technique you'd rather see on Magic: The Gathering cards than in a museum.

Look at his painting "The Creature from Pripyat": the monster is made of several animals and is terribly ugly, but it gives a great 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 this does not make it any less creepy.

The SCP Foundation adopted this creature as their mascot, naming it "SCP-682". But in the arsenal of Thompson there are still many such monsters, and there are more terrible ones.

3. Junji Ito

On the subject of commercial artists: some of them draw comics. In the horror comic business, Junji Ito is the champion. His monsters are not just grotesque: the artist carefully draws every wrinkle, every crease on the body of creatures. This is what scares people, and not the irrationality of monsters.

For example, in his comic "The Riddle of Amigar Fault" he undresses people and sends them into a humanoid hole in solid rock - the closer we see this hole, the scarier, but even "from a distance" it seems frightening.

In his Uzumaki (Spiral) comic book series, there is a guy obsessed with spirals. At first, his obsession seems funny, and then 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 work stands out from all Japanese manga - his "normal" characters look unusually realistic and even cute, and the monsters seem even more creepy against their background.

4. Zdzisław Beksiński

If an artist says, "I can't imagine what sanity means in painting," he's most likely not painting kittens.

Polish painter Zdzisław Beksiński was born in 1929. For decades, he created nightmare images in the genre of fantastic realism until his horrific death in 2005 (he was stabbed 17 times). The most fruitful period in his work fell on the years 1960 - 1980: then he created highly detailed images, which he himself called "photographs of his dreams."

According to Beksiński, the meaning of this or that painting did not bother him, 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 personify Polish citizens, and the head can be a kind of ruthless authority.

The artist himself claimed that he had nothing of the kind in mind. In fact, Beksinsky said about this picture that it should be taken as a joke - that's what really black humor means.

5. Wayne Barlow

Thousands of artists have tried to portray Hell, but Wayne Barlow has clearly succeeded in this. Even if you have not heard his name, you have probably seen the work. He has been involved in 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".

Hell for him 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 other people's pain. People for his demons are not objects of hatred at all, but simply a means for idle entertainment, nothing more.

6. Tetsuya Ishida

In acrylic paintings by Isis, people are often transformed into objects such as packaging, conveyor belts, urinals, or even hemorrhoid pillows. He also has visually pleasing paintings in which people merge with nature or escape into the magical land of their imagination. But such works are much dimmer than paintings in which restaurant workers turn into dummies pumping food into customers as if they were servicing cars at a gas station.

Regardless of the opinion about the accuracy and insight of the artist or the vividness of his metaphors, it cannot be denied 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, almost certainly a suicide. His works are valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

7. Dariusz Zawadzki

Zavadsky was born in 1958. Like Beksiński, he works in the style of creepy fantastical realism. His teachers at the art school told Zavadsky that he did not have very good eyesight and a poor eye, so he could not become an artist. Well, they obviously jumped to conclusions.

There are elements of steampunk in Zavadsky's works: he often draws creatures similar to robots, under the artificial skin of which working mechanisms are visible. For example, take a look at the 2007 oil painting "The Nest". The poses of the birds are the same as those of the living, but the frame is clearly metallic, barely covered with shreds of skin. The picture may cause disgust, but at the same time it attracts the eye - you want to consider 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 really scare. 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 photos from 2008, which you can see here, is his daughter Chloe. The girl's face almost does not express emotions, and she almost does not look towards the audience. The contrast is frightening: a family photo on the bedside table, a girl in pink pajamas - and huge cockroaches.

9. Patricia Piccinini

Piccinini's sculptures are sometimes very different from each other: some sculptures are irregularly shaped motorcycles, others are strange balloons with hot air. But mostly she creates sculptures that are very, very uncomfortable to stand in the same room with. They even look creepy in photos.

In the 2004 work Indivisible, a humanoid is pressed against the back of a normal human child. Most disturbing is the element of trust and affection - as if the innocence of the child was cruelly used to harm him.

Of course, Piccinini's work is criticized. They even said about the "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 work from fiberglass, silicone, and hair.

10. Mark Powell

The work of the Australian Mark Powell is really shocking. His 2012 show is a series of compositions in which fantastic creatures evolve, devour and excrete each other from their own bodies, multiply and decay. The textures of the creatures and environments are extremely convincing, and the body language of the figures is precisely chosen to make the situations look as ordinary as possible - and therefore convincing.

Of course, the Internet could not fail to pay tribute to the artist. The aforementioned "SCP Foundation" took the hideous 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.

Today we would like to tell you a little about those people who, in our opinion, are among 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 paper cutting research in China, Japan, Germany and Switzerland. He collects the leaves, washes, dries them, presses them and carefully carves his paintings on them.

2. Nina Aoyama

At first glance, it may seem that this young Frenchwoman does nothing special - she just cuts out of paper. But she sticks her clippings on fabric or glass, and it turns out such a beauty!

3. Claire Morgan

British artist Claire Morgan creates unusual installations that freeze right in the air. The working material for the artist are dry plants, grains, insects, stuffed animals and fresh fruits. Thousands of details of the installation are fixed on a thin fishing line with jeweler's precision. Air sculptures by Claire Morgan are dedicated to the Earth and all living things living on it.

4. Mike Stillkey

Mike Stilkey creates art out of book spines. He builds a whole wall of books, and writes his pictures on their spines. Mike dreamed for a long time to publish an album with his paintings, but not a single publisher undertook 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 mostly on the beaches, but recently he has started to paint in the desert as well. “I don’t have as much time on the beach as I do in the deserts,” he says. “The ocean washes everything away very quickly.”

6. Vhils

His works are unusual in that he carves them into old plaster.

7. Bruce Munro

In his work he works with light. Not so long ago, his installation of another field of light was opened 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 her, the talented American artist Jason Mecier made portraits of stars from pills. The most interesting thing is that the artist used only tablets as a material for his canvases, which are released according to a special prescription, which he could not legally get. It can be said that Jason committed an illegal act, but by doing so he drew attention to the illegal distribution of drugs.

9. Jennifer Maestre

How much does it take to become an artist? Maybe talent? Or the ability to learn something new? Or wild fantasy? Of course, all these are necessary factors, but what is the most important? Inspiration. When an artist literally puts his soul into a painting, it becomes as if alive. The magic of colors works wonders, but it is impossible to translate the look, I want to study every little thing ...

In this article, we will look at 25 truly ingenious and famous paintings.

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The Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali

This small picture brought Dali's popularity when he was 28 years old. This is not the only name of the picture, it also has the names "Soft watch", "Permanence of memory", "Hardness of memory".

The idea of ​​painting a picture came to the artist at the moment when he was thinking about melted cheese. Dali did not leave a note about the meaning and significance of the painting, so scientists interpret it in their own way, leaning towards Einstein's theory of relativity.

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"Dance", Henri Matisse

The picture is written in just three colors - red, blue and green. They symbolize heaven, earth and people. In addition to "Dance" Matisse painted another painting "Music". They were commissioned by a Russian collector.

There are no unnecessary details on it, only the natural background and the people themselves, who are frozen in the dance. This is exactly what the artist wanted - to capture a good moment when people are one with nature and overwhelmed with ecstasy.

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The Kiss, Gustav Klimt

The Kiss is Klimt's most famous painting. He wrote it in his "golden" period of creativity. He used real gold leaf. There are two versions of the painting's biography. According to the first version, the picture depicts Gustav himself with his beloved Emilia Flöge, whose name he pronounced last in his life. According to the second version, a certain count ordered the painting for Klimt to paint him and his beloved.

When the count asked why the kiss itself was not in the picture, Klimt stated that he was an artist and he saw it that way. In fact, Klimt fell in love with the count's girlfriend and this was some kind of revenge.

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Sleeping Gypsy, Henri Rousseau

The canvas was found only 13 years after the death of the author, and it immediately became his most expensive work. During his lifetime, he tried to sell it to the mayor of the city, but all to no avail.

The picture conveys the original meaning and deep idea. Peace, relaxation - these are the feelings that "Sleeping Gypsy" evokes.

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The Last Judgment Hieronymus Bosch

The painting is the largest of all his surviving works. The picture does not need an explanation of the plot, everything is clear from the title. Doomsday, apocalypse. God judges both the righteous and sinners. The picture is divided into three scenes. In the first scene, paradise, green gardens, bliss.

In the central part is the Last Judgment itself, where God begins to judge people for their deeds. Hell is depicted on the right side, as it appears. Terrible monsters, red-hot inferno and monstrous torture of sinners.

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Metamorphoses of Narcissus, Salvador Dali

Many plots were taken as the basis, but the most important place is occupied by the story of Narcissus - a guy who admired his beauty so much that he died because he could not satisfy his desires.

In the foreground of the picture, Narcissus sits in thought by the water and cannot tear himself away from his own reflection. Nearby is a stone hand, in which the egg, it is a symbol of rebirth and new life.

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Massacre of the Innocents, Peter Paul Rubens

The story was taken from the Bible, when King Herod ordered the killing of all newborn boys. The painting depicts a garden in Herod's palace. Armed warriors forcefully take babies from crying mothers and kill them. The ground is strewn with dead bodies.

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Number 5 1948 by Jackson Pollock

Jackson used a unique method of applying paint to a painting. He laid the canvas on the ground and walked around it. But instead of applying strokes, he took brushes, syringes and splashed onto the canvas. This method was later called "action painting".

Pollock did not use sketches, he always relied only on his emotions.

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Ball at the Moulin de la Galette, Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Renoir is the only artist who did not write a single sad picture. Renoir found the plot for this painting near the house, in the Moulin de la Galette restaurant. The lively and cheerful atmosphere of the institution inspired the artist to create this picture. Friends and favorite models posed for him to write the work.

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The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci

This painting depicts the last feast of Christ with his disciples. It is generally accepted that the moment is drawn when Christ says that one of the disciples will betray him.

In search of sitters, da Vinci spent a lot of time. The most difficult were the image of Christ and Judas. In the church choir, Leonardo noticed a young singer and drew the image of Christ from him. Three years later, the artist saw a drunkard descending in a ditch and realized that this was the one he was looking for and dragged him to the workshop.

When he copied the image from a drunkard, he confessed to him that three years ago the artist himself painted the image of Christ from him. And so it happened that the images of Jesus and Judas were written off from the same person, but in different life periods.

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"Water Lilies", Claude Monet

In 1912, the artist was diagnosed with a double cataract, because of which he underwent surgery. Having lost the lens in his left eye, the artist began to see ultraviolet as blue or violet, because of this, his paintings acquired new and bright colors. Drawing this picture, Monet saw the lilies as blue, while ordinary people saw just ordinary white lilies.

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"Scream", Edvard Munch

Munch suffered from manic-depressive psychosis, he was often tormented by nightmares and depression. Many critics believe that Munch depicted himself in the picture - screaming in panic and insane horror.

The artist himself described the meaning of the picture as a "cry of nature." He said that he was walking with friends at sunset and the sky turned blood red. Trembling with fear, he allegedly heard the same "cry of nature."

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Whistler's Mother, James Whistler

The mother of the artist himself posed for the picture. Initially, he wanted his mother to pose standing up, but this proved difficult for the old woman.
Whistler titled his painting Arrangement in Gray and Black. The artist's mother. But over time, the real name was forgotten and people began to call her "Mother Whistler."

It was originally an order from a Member of Parliament. who wanted the artist to draw Maggie's daughter. But in the process, she refused the painting and James asked his mother to become a model in order to complete the painting.

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"Portrait of Dora Maar", Pablo Picasso

Dora entered the work of Picasso as "a woman in tears." He noted that he could never write her smiling. Deep, sad eyes and sadness on her face are the characteristic features of Maar's portraits. And, of course, blood-red nails - this especially delighted the artist. Picasso often painted portraits of Dora Maar and they are all admirable.

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"Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh

The painting depicts a night landscape, which the artist expressed with thick, bright colors and an atmosphere of nocturnal tranquility. The brightest objects are, of course, the stars and the moon, they are drawn in the most pronounced way.

Tall cypresses grow on the ground, as if dreaming of joining the fascinating dances of the stars.

The meaning of the picture is interpreted in different ways. Some see a reference to the Old Testament, while others are simply inclined to believe that the painting is the result of a protracted illness of the artist. It was during the treatment that he wrote Starry Night.

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Olympia Edouard Manet

The picture was the cause for one of the biggest scandals in history. After all, it depicts a naked girl lying on white sheets.
Outraged people spat at the artist, and some even tried to spoil the canvas.

Manet only wanted to draw a "modern" Venus, to show that the women of the present are no worse than the women of the past.

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May 3, 1808, Francisco Goya

The artist deeply experienced the events associated with the attack of Napoleon. In May 1808, the Madrid uprising ended tragically, and this touched the soul of the artist so much that after 6 years he poured out his feelings on the canvas.

War, death, loss - all this is so realistically depicted in the picture that it still delights the minds of many.

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Girl with a Pearl Earring by Jan Vermeer

The painting had another name "Girl in a turban". In general, little is known about the painting. According to one version, Jan painted his own daughter Maria. In the picture, the girl seems to be turning towards someone and the viewer's gaze is focused on the pearl earring in the girl's ear. The sparkle of the earring shines in the eyes and on the lips.

Based on the picture, a novel was written, later a film of the same name was shot.

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"Night Watch", Rembrandt

This is a group portrait of the company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenbürg. The portrait was commissioned by the Shooting Society.
Despite the difficulty of the content, the picture is full of the spirit of parade and solemnity. As if the Musketeers pose for the artist, forgetting about the battle.
Later, the painting was cut off on all sides so that it would fit in the new room. Some arrows have disappeared from the picture forever.

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Las Meninas, Diego Velasquez

In the painting, the artist paints portraits of King Phillip the Fourth and his wife, which are visible reflected in the mirror. Their five-year-old daughter is depicted in the center of the composition, surrounded by a retinue.

Many believe that Velasquez wanted to depict himself at the moment of creation - "painting and painting".

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Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, Pieter Brueghel

This is the only surviving work of the artist on the subject of myths.

The main character of the picture is almost invisible. He fell into the river, only his legs stick out of the water surface. On the surface of the river are scattered the feathers of Icarus, which flew out from the fall. And people are busy with their own affairs, no one cares about the fallen youth.

It would seem that the picture is tragic, because it depicts the death of a young man, but the picture is painted in calm, soft colors and, as it were, says - "nothing happened."

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The School of Athens, Raphael

Before the “School of Athens”, Raphael had little experience with frescoes, but surprisingly, this fresco turned out to be brilliantly excellent.

This painting depicts the Academy founded by Plato in Athens. The meetings of the Academy were held in the open air, but the artist decided that more brilliant ideas come in a magnificently made antique building and therefore depicts students not against the backdrop of nature. On the fresco, Raphael depicted himself.

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The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo

This is the fourth of nine frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel on the theme of the creation of the world. Michelangelo did not consider himself a great artist, he positioned himself as a sculptor. That is why the body of Adam in the picture is so proportional, has pronounced features.

In 1990, they discovered that the anatomically accurate structure of the human brain was encrypted in the image of God. Perhaps Michelangelo was well acquainted with human anatomy.

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"Mona Lisa", Leonardo da Vinci

Mona Lisa remains one of the most mysterious paintings in the art world to this day. Critics are still arguing who is actually depicted on it. Many are inclined to believe that Mona Lisa is the wife of Francesco Gioconda, who asked the artist to paint a portrait.

The main mystery of the picture lies in the smile of a woman. There are many versions - starting from the woman's pregnancy and the smile betrays the movement of the fetus, ending with the fact that this is actually a self-portrait of the artist in a female image. Well, one can only guess and admire the incredible beauty of the picture.

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The Birth of Venus Sandro Botticelli

The painting depicts the myth of the birth of the goddess Venus. The goddess was born from the sea foam in the early morning. The wind god Zephyr helps the goddess swim to the shore in her shell, where she is met by the goddess Ora. The picture personifies the birth of love, evokes a feeling of beauty, because there is nothing more beautiful in the world than love.

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Conclusion

We have tried to fit in this article only some of the most popular paintings in the world. But there are also many other equally interesting masterpieces of fine art. What paintings do you consider popular?