The Crying Boy
Encyclopedia
The Crying Boy is a mass-produced print of a painting by Spanish
painter Bruno Amadio
, also known as Giovanni Bragolin
. It was widely distributed from the 1950s onwards. There are numerous alternative versions, all portraits of tearful young boys or girls.
reported that a firefighter from Yorkshire
was claiming that undamaged copies of the painting were frequently found amidst the ruins of burned houses. He stated that no firefighter would allow a copy of the painting into his own house. Over the next few months, The Sun and other tabloids ran several articles on house fires suffered by people who had owned the painting.
By the end of November, belief in the painting's curse was widespread enough that The Sun was organising mass bonfire
s of the paintings, sent in by readers.
To lift the curse it is said you must give the painting to another or reunite the boy and the girl and hang them together.
Karl Pilkington has made reference to these events on The Ricky Gervais Show
.
Steve Punt
, British writer and comedian, investigated the "curse" of the crying boy in a BBC radio Four production called Punt PI. Although the programme is comic in nature Punt researches the history of the Crying Boy painting and reveals an intriguing past. The Punt PI page, Crying Boy episode: *http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00v697r (programme broadcast on Sat 9 Oct 2010, 10:30 on BBC Radio 4). The conclusion reached by the programme, following testing at the Building Research Establishment
is that the prints were treated with some varnish containing fire repellant, and that the string holding the painting to the wall would be the first to perish, resulting in the painting landing face down on the floor and thus being protected.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
painter Bruno Amadio
Giovanni Bragolin
Bruno Amadio , popularly known as Bragolin, and also known as Franchot Seville, Angelo Bragolin, and J. Bragolin , was the creator of the group of paintings known as Crying Boys. The paintings feature a variety of tearful children looking morosely straight ahead...
, also known as Giovanni Bragolin
Giovanni Bragolin
Bruno Amadio , popularly known as Bragolin, and also known as Franchot Seville, Angelo Bragolin, and J. Bragolin , was the creator of the group of paintings known as Crying Boys. The paintings feature a variety of tearful children looking morosely straight ahead...
. It was widely distributed from the 1950s onwards. There are numerous alternative versions, all portraits of tearful young boys or girls.
Curse
On September 4, 1985, the British tabloid newspaper The SunThe Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
reported that a firefighter from Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
was claiming that undamaged copies of the painting were frequently found amidst the ruins of burned houses. He stated that no firefighter would allow a copy of the painting into his own house. Over the next few months, The Sun and other tabloids ran several articles on house fires suffered by people who had owned the painting.
By the end of November, belief in the painting's curse was widespread enough that The Sun was organising mass bonfire
Bonfire
A bonfire is a controlled outdoor fire used for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Celebratory bonfires are typically designed to burn quickly and may be very large...
s of the paintings, sent in by readers.
To lift the curse it is said you must give the painting to another or reunite the boy and the girl and hang them together.
Karl Pilkington has made reference to these events on The Ricky Gervais Show
The Ricky Gervais Show
The Ricky Gervais Show is a comedy audio show in the UK starring Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington, later adapted into an animated televised version debuting for HBO and Channel 4 in 2010. The show started in November 2001 on Xfm, and aired in weekly periods for months at a time...
.
Steve Punt
Steve Punt
Stephen Punt is a British writer, comedian and actor, best known for his long-time comedy partnership with Hugh Dennis. Punt lives in Wimbledon with his girlfriend and two children.-Life and career:...
, British writer and comedian, investigated the "curse" of the crying boy in a BBC radio Four production called Punt PI. Although the programme is comic in nature Punt researches the history of the Crying Boy painting and reveals an intriguing past. The Punt PI page, Crying Boy episode: *http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00v697r (programme broadcast on Sat 9 Oct 2010, 10:30 on BBC Radio 4). The conclusion reached by the programme, following testing at the Building Research Establishment
Building Research Establishment
The Building Research Establishment is a former UK government establishment that carries out research, consultancy and testing for the construction and built environment sectors in the United Kingdom...
is that the prints were treated with some varnish containing fire repellant, and that the string holding the painting to the wall would be the first to perish, resulting in the painting landing face down on the floor and thus being protected.
External links
- http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/1308/the_curse_of_the_crying_boy.html