The Curse of the Crying Boy.
We have a lot to thank the 80’s for, Ra Ra skirts, Dallas, CD players and Findus Crispy Pancakes. Another thing you may have remembered seeing, hung in living rooms walls everywhere, was a Crying Boy painting.
Who knows how the popularity for having a miserable looking child staring down at you started, but start it did and pretty soon walls everywhere were graced with varying images of tear stained toddlers.
Although several artists followed the trend, including Dallas Simpson, Anna Zinkeisen and Irene Spencer, it thought the original Crying Boy was painted by a Spanish artist called Bruno Amadio, who painted under the name of Giovanni Broglin. Giovanni met an orphan called Don Bonillo. Bonillo had been nicknamed The Devil Child, as it was said wherever he went, fires started. Taking pity on the young boy, Giovanni took him in and painted his portrait. Some time later the artist’s house burnt down and he threw the orphan back onto the streets.
Meanwhile the painting’s popularity increased and soon an array of crying children graced walls in the UK. Until that was, its connection to several family tragedies began to prick the public’s interest and deepest fears.
In 1985 Ron & Mary Hall from Rotherham in the UK, were devastated when a house fire took hold and burnt it to the ground, the only thing that survived? Their Crying Boy painting.
The Sun newspaper covered the story and pretty soon, hundreds of other people were contacting them about their own misfortunes, putting down fires and family bereavements to a similar Crying painting. In response, The Sun offered for the nation to send in their prints, and they would hold a mass burning to rid the UK of its bad luck once and for all.
Who better to start The Sun’s pyre than ‘Red-hot Page 3 beauty’ ‘Sexy’ Sandra Jane Moore (I can only hope the vest top and hot pants were fire retardant). For those that kept hold of their paintings, it was said that if you placed a Crying Girl painting next to it, then misfortune would dodge you.
And what happened to the original fire starting little boy? Years later a crashed car was found, which had set on fire. The body was so badly burnt, it was unidentifiable. When the officers looked inside the glove compartment they found his ID, only to find it was that former fire starting orphan, Don Bonillo.
Love Kitsch Art?
This is one of my favourite ‘coffee table’ type books, Just Above The Mantlepiece by Wayne Hemingway. Beautifully produced and packed full of kitsch paintings from the 50’s onwards. There are several Crying Boy /Girl pictures inside, and whether you are suspicious or not, I think we can all agree, it’s probably best to keep them bound in a book, rather than gracing your walls.
Fancy a Dark Thriller?…
My debut novel ‘The Clinic’ is out now!
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read from start to finish
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 January 2023
I couldn't put this book down, I really enjoyed it. Great characters and plot twists, loved the story and setting brilliantly written. Can't wait to read your next book.
