She's Always Watching
Added 2020-05-15 13:54:45 +0000 UTCThis print is probably the closest thing I have to a legitimately cursed object in my house. A little background - some friends of mine put on a mini Burning Man each September where we go set up camp in the middle of nowhere, build giant wooden structures, and then burn them down a couple days later. This painting was intended to go up in one of those fires several years ago. It belonged to my friend's grandma, and he always hated it because it freaked him out when he was a kid, but it was intercepted and spared a fiery death by another camper who wanted it for their house. The reprieve only lasted a few years until that camper got married and was moving in with his wife, who absolutely refused to let him bring it with him. It would have been headed for the dumpster, but I was helping him move that day and it came home with me instead. "Cursed" might not be the right word since (as far as I can tell) nothing bad happens to the owner, but it definitely has a surprisingly strong will to survive.
The "Chinese Girl" (or "Green Lady") was also one of the most mass produced prints of the last century, which, now that I'm writing all this about its will to survive, is actually kind of creeping me out.
EDIT: Here's a link with some more info about the painting: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/chinese-girl-the-mona-lisa-of-kitsch-8537467.html
Comments
I guess the lady who modeled for it just passed away in 2017.
The Screaming Moist
2020-05-15 15:28:53 +0000 UTCJust put a link in the post with an article about it.
The Screaming Moist
2020-05-15 15:23:50 +0000 UTCWhat's the lady meant to represent and has there been any scholarship about its origins and what it's supposed to represent artwise? Those would be good places to start to find out more about her. Maybe her life was cursed. Maybe there's tragedy there. You'll never know if you don't look into it. It may not translate into one of your stories but maybe it'll inspire you to use an analogous painting in a future story. Who knows! π€£ Either way, your devotees would also be interested in yoir research if you care to chase it up.
LuciferDragonshift
2020-05-15 14:53:10 +0000 UTCImagine all of the things that Lady has witnessed, in all of the different homes she has been in, over the years!!
Derek Lee
2020-05-15 14:48:20 +0000 UTCIt definitely has an unsettling vibe to it. It immediately struck me as at least mildly creepy, which makes it all the more odd to me that so many people had/have it in their homes. Maybe itβs just the presentation of this specific one because itβs aged and worn, and itβd feel different in a shiny new frame or fresh off the shelf, but itβs weird to think about it having such a broad appeal. Itβs a gorgeous painting, but itβs not exactly inoffensive shapes or generic landscapes like a lot of prefab artwork.
The Screaming Moist
2020-05-15 14:15:40 +0000 UTCThe combination of delicacy and vague unease is striking.
TSquared
2020-05-15 14:10:24 +0000 UTC
