About a year and a half ago, I put together a list of the
Top 10 Scariest Paintings which remains one of the most popular posts I've ever done, receiving daily visitors to this day. So, figured I, why not dig back into the mists of time once again for ten more deeply disturbing works of fine art with which to thoroughly creep you out for the day? Certainly beats writing for a living! So, I hope you enjoy this second twisted look inside the mind of man...
10.
The Adoration of the Magi. Hieronymus Bosch, 1510
9.
Journey of the Wounded Healer. Alex Gray, 1985
8.
Reflection. Lucien Freud, 1985
7.
Island of the Dead. Arnold Boecklin, 1883
6.
Mask Still Life III. Emil Nolde, 1911
5.
Masks as Ruins. Otto Dix, 1946
4.
Jean Michel Basquiat. Riding with Death, 1988
3.
The Smiling Spider. Odilon Redon, 1881
2.
The Temptation of St. Anthony. Matthias Grunewald, 1515
1.
Pope Innocent X. Francis Bacon, 1953
16 comments:
These are fantastic. I was surprised you didn't include anything by Goya -- but I see you had "Saturn" in the first post.
Oh yeah, some great stuff here, B-Sol! I'm forever obsessed with Bosch. That Basquiat is great and I love The Smiling Spider!
I came across a local artist here in Boston that I think you'll appreciate. I'll see if I can dig up his work.
Yes, and there was also a great piece of his I wanted to include called "Sleep of Reason", but technically it's an etching, and I decided to limit it strictly to paintings.
Awesome, Chris! I really think that Smiling Spider must've been an influence on some of the more surreal cartoon animators of the early 20th century. And Bosch is a fave of mine as well--they have one of his by me at the Yale Art Gallery.
B-Sol, I have a vague feeling I've seen a very similar spider in some short animation piece from some time ago and probably on HBO when they had odd short films between the feature stuff.
Or maybe like some late night cable show on USA or something. Hmmm.
Francis Bacon freaks me out--like majorly. Every single time I go to MoMA, I see that one with the monkey (and I feel like an asshole right now because I studied art history, and I can't remember the name), and I actually feel so uncomfortable that I can't look at it for more than a second or two.
In other news: we are all huge dorks.
Awesome art you have lined up here, B-Sol. Personally I felt that the "Island of the Dead" painting was the most disturbing. There's just something about how desolate and otherwordly it looks that strikes a cord in me. Wasn't this featured to some extent in the Karloff/Lewton vehicle "Isle of the Dead"? For some reason I wanna say that the titular landscape was modeled after the painting.
Missy, for the record, I think the name of that piece is actually "The One with the Monkey". Or, at least, it should be.
Thanks, Joe. If that painting did inspire the movie, it would be one more reason to love both. As for my pick, I have to stick with Pope Innocent as the most disturbing. I wouldn't be surprised if a wee Clive Barker caught a glimpse of that one when he was still in short pants...
Awesome! I must share with you the painting that scarred me as a young pup.
http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/graphics/Watson_and_the_Shark.jpg
Behold! Watson and the Shark. It's at the MFA here, and I remember just standing there transfixed at horrible and scary it was. It did nothing to end my fear of sharks, I'll tell ya that.
Wonderful pics, but I've always found Bosch's Adoration of the Magi, more surreal than anything. Still, one man's surreality is an others horror!
very cool stuff !
:-)
I want the smiling spider as my wallpaper
Andre, no wonder you're afraid of sharks, holy crap!!
Pax, that one is definitely more on the bizarre side than anything else.
Paige, I guess you got freaked out by all those crying clown paintings then? lol
Jaded, I also want it as my wallpaper. For my living room.
The Smiling Spider really creeps me out...
Yeah, my nightmares look like a Grunewald painting.
Is it just me, or does that painting from Bacon look like something out of Ghostbusters? The Ghost Pop is being sucked into the trap!
I can definitely see that! I kind of see it more as something out of Hellraiser, though.
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