Marcus Chen
The Crying Boy is a mass-produced print of a painting by Italian painter Giovanni Bragolin, the pen name of Bruno Amarillo. The painting depicts a tearful young boy and gained notoriety in the 1980s when it was linked to a series of house fires, leading to rumours of a curse. One such incident involved a couple, May and Ron Hall, whose Rotherham home was destroyed by a chip pan fire. Despite the extensive damage, a print of The Crying Boy hanging in their living room remained intact. This sparked widespread panic, with thousands of prints burned in bonfires organised by the tabloid newspaper The Sun. Today, the original painting is said to reside in Zak Bagans' occult museum, where it was featured in an episode of Deadly Possessions.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Artist | Giovanni Bragolin (pen name of Bruno Amarillo) |
| Other Names of the Artist | Franchot Seville, Angelo Bragolin |
| Date of Creation | 1950s |
| Genre | Mass-produced prints |
| Subject | Tearful young boys or girls |
| Associated With | Curses, fires |
| Owner | Zak Bagans |
| Museum | Occult Museum |
| Location | Las Vegas, NV |
| Podcast | Supernatural with Ashley Flowers |
| TV Show | Deadly Possessions |
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What You'll Learn
- The Crying Boy painting is rumoured to be cursed, causing house fires and surviving the flames
- The artist, Giovanni Bragolin, painted over 60 tearful portraits of children in the 1950s
- The paintings were mass-produced and sold worldwide in the 1980s, gaining a sinister reputation
- The Sun newspaper organised bonfires for readers to destroy their prints, fuelling the curse hysteria
- The painting was featured on the TV show Deadly Possessions, housed in Zak Bagans' occult museum
The Crying Boy painting is rumoured to be cursed, causing house fires and surviving the flames
The Crying Boy painting is a mass-produced print of a painting by Italian painter Giovanni Bragolin, which is the pen name of painter Bruno Amarillo. The painting features a tearful young boy, and there are numerous alternative versions, including portraits of crying girls. The painting was widely distributed from the 1950s onwards and was often duplicated, with the originals being the work of Bragolin.
In the 1980s, the painting became the subject of urban legends and was rumoured to be cursed. This curse was said to cause house fires and leave the painting untouched by the flames. The legend began in the United Kingdom when a 1985 article in the British tabloid The Sun reported that an Essex firefighter claimed to have found undamaged copies of the painting in the ruins of burned houses. The article, titled "Blazing Curse of the Crying Boy", sparked widespread belief in the curse and led to mass bonfires of the paintings organised by the newspaper.
Numerous stories emerged of house fires where the only item to survive was The Crying Boy painting. For example, in October 1985, a fire gutted the Parillo Pizza Palace in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, but the Crying Boy picture remained untouched. Similarly, in December 1985, a fire swept through the home of 67-year-old William Armitage in Weston-Super-Mare, Avon, and a Crying Boy picture was found intact beside the charred remains.
The curse was also said to have caused fires in the homes of those who owned the painting, with some owners choosing to destroy the painting out of fear. One owner, Tina Booth, claimed that the painting caused two fires in her home and eventually gave it to Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures to be housed in his occult museum.
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The artist, Giovanni Bragolin, painted over 60 tearful portraits of children in the 1950s
The artist Giovanni Bragolin, also known as Bruno Amadio, painted a series of over 60 portraits of tearful children in the 1950s. The paintings, known as the "Crying Boys," were mass-produced and sold worldwide, particularly in Europe, in the 1950s and 1980s. They were often reproduced and imitated, with the originals painted with oil on canvas or hardboard.
Bragolin's paintings typically featured a single tearful child looking morosely straight ahead, with the artist adding tears to the portraits later. The children were depicted as street urchins, with a singular hue dominating each portrait, and their faces gently or liberally illuminated against a rustic backdrop. The paintings were known to evoke strong emotions, with the subjects' sad eyes touching the souls of those who viewed them.
In the 1980s, the paintings became associated with a curse, with several house fires in the United Kingdom linked to the presence of "The Crying Boy" prints. The prints were often found undamaged amidst the ruins of burned houses, leading to widespread belief in the curse. This resulted in mass bonfires of the paintings organised by the tabloid newspaper The Sun, as well as a national extermination campaign that saw thousands of prints burned.
The "Crying Boy" painting is said to have caused two fires in the home of Tina Booth in Clevedon, England. She eventually gave the painting to Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures to be housed in his occult museum, fearing that it would cause harm to her family.
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The paintings were mass-produced and sold worldwide in the 1980s, gaining a sinister reputation
The Crying Boy is a mass-produced print of a painting by Italian painter Giovanni Bragolin, the pen name of Bruno Amarillo. The painting was widely distributed from the 1950s onwards, with reproductions of the Crying Boys series being sold worldwide in the 1980s. The painting depicts a tearful young boy or girl staring morosely straight ahead. Sometimes, the subjects are referred to as "Gypsy boys", although there is no specific link to the Romani people.
In the 1980s, the painting gained a sinister reputation due to its association with several house fires. On September 4, 1985, the British tabloid newspaper The Sun published an article titled "Blazing Curse of the Crying Boy", reporting that a home in South Yorkshire had been ravaged by fire, yet a Crying Boy print remained untouched, still hanging in its frame on the wall. Similar reports of Crying Boy prints being the only items to survive house fires began to spread, fueling rumours of a curse.
One such story involves Tina Booth, the owner of a Crying Boy painting. Booth claimed that the painting caused two fires in her home in Clevedon, England. Fearing that the painting would cause harm to her family, she eventually gave it to Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures, who now houses it in his occult museum. Another incident involves Dora Brand of Mitcham, Surrey, whose home was destroyed by a fire that left only her Crying Boy painting intact among many others she owned.
As the belief in the painting's curse grew, The Sun organised mass bonfires of the paintings, with thousands of prints burned on wasteland close to the River Thames on October 30, 1985. However, not all reproductions were destroyed, and those that survived are believed by some to still carry the curse.
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The Sun newspaper organised bonfires for readers to destroy their prints, fuelling the curse hysteria
The Crying Boy is a mass-produced print of a painting by Italian painter Giovanni Bragolin, which was widely distributed from the 1950s onwards. In September 1985, the phenomenon entered the public domain when a national newspaper quoted a Yorkshire fireman, Peter Hall, who claimed that fire brigades across the north of England had found examples of the painting remaining untouched in fires of unknown origin.
As more fires linked to the Crying Boy prints were reported, rumours of a curse spread. On 21 October 1985, a pizzeria in Great Yarmouth was gutted by fire, but its displayed Crying Boy picture remained in pristine condition. Three days later, a family in Herringthorpe, South Yorkshire, lost their home to an unexplained fire; again, the Crying Boy picture in their living room was unmarked while pictures on either side had been consumed by the flames.
On 30 October 1985, thousands of prints were burned on wasteland close to the River Thames, following a national extermination campaign led by The Sun newspaper. The tabloid had fuelled the curse hysteria by reporting on the phenomenon and organising mass bonfires for readers to destroy their prints. However, not all reproductions were destroyed, and those that survived are said to preserve the "Curse of the Crying Boy".
One owner of a Crying Boy painting, Tina Booth, eventually brought it to Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures so that he could house it in his occult museum, fearing that the painting would cause harm to her family.
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The painting was featured on the TV show Deadly Possessions, housed in Zak Bagans' occult museum
The Crying Boy painting is a mass-produced print of a painting by Italian painter Giovanni Bragolin, which was the pen name of Bruno Amarillo. The painting features a teary-eyed young boy, and over 50,000 copies were sold in the UK alone. The painting gained notoriety in the 1980s when it was linked to a series of house fires. Despite the kitchen being destroyed in one such incident, the painting remained untouched, still hanging on the wall.
Speculation and theories about the painting being cursed began to spread. Some claimed the painting was of a gypsy child whose family placed a curse on the artist, while others said the child had died in a fire and his spirit was trapped in the painting. The most common story claimed that the crying boy accidentally set fire to the artist's studio and that wherever the orphan went, fires mysteriously followed, earning him the nickname Diablo or Devil.
The Crying Boy painting was featured on the TV show Deadly Possessions in 2016. The episode, titled "Ed Gein's Cauldron and The Crying Boy Paintings", centred around two paintings connected to a string of mysterious house fires. The painting was housed in Zak Bagans' occult museum after being given to him by Tina Booth, who owned the painting and believed it had caused two fires in her home. She travelled from Clevedon, England, to Las Vegas to give Bagans the painting, fearing that it would cause harm to her family.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the painting is at Zak Bagans' museum. It was previously owned by Tina Booth, who believed that the painting caused two fires in her home.
The Crying Boy was painted by Giovanni Bragolin, the pen name of Bruno Amarillo.
No, there are numerous alternative versions, all portraits of tearful young boys or girls.
The Crying Boy became famous due to its association with several house fires. It was believed that the painting was cursed and that it caused the fires.
The painting was often found to be the only item to survive the fires, remaining completely untouched by the flames. This led to widespread belief in the curse, with thousands of prints being burned in bonfires.
