In February 2000, an anonymous seller started an auction for a haunted painting on E-bay called "The Hands Resist Him". It is a painting created in 1972 by a California artist named Bill Stoneham. It showed a female doll and a young boy standing in front of a glass paneled door. Perhaps the most unsettling feature are the floating hands pressed against the glass of the door behind them. According to the artist, the boy is based on a photograph of himself at age of five, the hands are represent the 'other lives', the glass door represent the thin layer between waking and dreaming realm. The girl/doll is the imagined companion, or his guide through this realm. Reports began coming in of strange reactions upon viewing the pictures. These included people being violently ill or fainting, children screaming upon seeing the painting and observers being gripped by an 'unseen entity'. There is no firm evidence to substantiate these claims, but what is without doubt is that the bidding price of the painting shot up - from a first bid of $199 to a final price of $1025.
In the early year of 1970s, the painting was first displayed at the Feingarten Gallery in Beverly Hills, California. Bill Stoneham held a one-man show at the gallery, which included the piece. It was reviewed by the art critic at the Los Angeles Times. Finally, the painting was purchased by actor John Marley who plays as Jack Woltz in The Godfather.
Later after Marley's death, the painting was reported to have come into the possession of a California couple, after being found on an old brewery. It is unknown how the painting ended up in the brewery. And then in February 2000, the painting appeared on E-bay, the famous auction website.
According to the seller (the California couple) the painting carried some kind of curse. Their E-bay description made a series of claims that the boy and the doll in the painting moved during the night, and that they would sometimes leave the painting and running around in the room which it was being displayed.
This is the original E-bay ad:
Description:
"When we received this painting, we thought it was really good art. A "picker" had found it abandoned behind an old brewery. At the time we wondered a little why a seemingly perfectly fine painting would be discarded like that. ( Today we don't !!! )
One morning our 4 and 1/2 year old daughter claimed, that the children in the picture were fighting, and coming into the room during the night. Now, i don't believe in ufos or elvis being alive, but my husband was alarmed. To my amusement he set up a motion triggered camera for the nights.
After three nights there were pictures. The last two pictures shown are from that 'stakeout'. After seeing the boy seemingly exiting the painting under threat, we decided, the painting has to go.
Please judge for yourself. --- before you do, please read the following warning and disclaimer. ----warning: do not bid on this painting if you are susceptible to stress related disease, faint of heart or are unfamiliar with supernatural events. By bidding on this painting, you agree to release the owners of all liability in relation to the sale or any events happening after the sale, that might be contributed to this painting.
This painting may or may not possess supernatural powers, that could impact or change your life. However, by bidding you agree to exclusively bid on the value of the artwork, with disregard to the last two photos featured in this auction, and hold the owners harmless in regard to them and their impact, expressed or implied.------------ now that we got this out of the way, one question to you E-bayers. We want our house to be blessed after the painting is gone, does anybody know, who is qualified to do that?..."
The rest of the ad and more pictures can be found on this website
The ad included grim warnings about possible supernatural powers held by the image and told the story of how the painting had affected the sellers' lives since they bought it a year previously. The advert also included a series of pictures of the picture 'changing form' at night - caught on film by a webcam. The last two pictures purport to show the doll coming to life and using a 'gun' held in her hand to force the boy to leave the painting. According to the artist, the object presumed by the E-bay sellers to be a gun is actually nothing more than a dry cell battery and a tangle of wires. Within hours of the painting appearing on E-bay, its story and link were being passed around the world via the Internet. The buyer, who wished to remain anonymous, later gave an interview to paranormal website 'Surfing the Apocalypse' about their experience with the 'haunted' painting.
Few years later, Bill Stoneham created another two painting which is the sequels of "The Hands Resist Him" painting and can be seen on this website. The first sequel called "Resistance at the Threshold", this one created on 2004 showed the 5-years-old boy has grown up into 40 years old man wearing a hat with the same style as the first painting. Another sequel on 2012 called "Threshold of Revelation", it showed the same 40 years old man in the shallow water (maybe in a sewer) with a little girl holding a mask/doll's face.
Sources:
http://stonehamstudios.com/haunted.html;
http://www.stonehamstudios.com/hands-series.html;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hands_Resist_Him;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/unexplained/2002/haunted_painting/ebay_haunted_painting_01.shtml;
http://listverse.com/2011/10/14/10-more-unsettling-paintings/;
http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.com/haunted_painting.html
In the early year of 1970s, the painting was first displayed at the Feingarten Gallery in Beverly Hills, California. Bill Stoneham held a one-man show at the gallery, which included the piece. It was reviewed by the art critic at the Los Angeles Times. Finally, the painting was purchased by actor John Marley who plays as Jack Woltz in The Godfather.
Later after Marley's death, the painting was reported to have come into the possession of a California couple, after being found on an old brewery. It is unknown how the painting ended up in the brewery. And then in February 2000, the painting appeared on E-bay, the famous auction website.
According to the seller (the California couple) the painting carried some kind of curse. Their E-bay description made a series of claims that the boy and the doll in the painting moved during the night, and that they would sometimes leave the painting and running around in the room which it was being displayed.
This is the original E-bay ad:
Haunted painting ----- warning and disclaimer
 |
| The Hands Resist Him |
"When we received this painting, we thought it was really good art. A "picker" had found it abandoned behind an old brewery. At the time we wondered a little why a seemingly perfectly fine painting would be discarded like that. ( Today we don't !!! )
One morning our 4 and 1/2 year old daughter claimed, that the children in the picture were fighting, and coming into the room during the night. Now, i don't believe in ufos or elvis being alive, but my husband was alarmed. To my amusement he set up a motion triggered camera for the nights.
After three nights there were pictures. The last two pictures shown are from that 'stakeout'. After seeing the boy seemingly exiting the painting under threat, we decided, the painting has to go.
Please judge for yourself. --- before you do, please read the following warning and disclaimer. ----warning: do not bid on this painting if you are susceptible to stress related disease, faint of heart or are unfamiliar with supernatural events. By bidding on this painting, you agree to release the owners of all liability in relation to the sale or any events happening after the sale, that might be contributed to this painting.
This painting may or may not possess supernatural powers, that could impact or change your life. However, by bidding you agree to exclusively bid on the value of the artwork, with disregard to the last two photos featured in this auction, and hold the owners harmless in regard to them and their impact, expressed or implied.------------ now that we got this out of the way, one question to you E-bayers. We want our house to be blessed after the painting is gone, does anybody know, who is qualified to do that?..."
The rest of the ad and more pictures can be found on this website
The ad included grim warnings about possible supernatural powers held by the image and told the story of how the painting had affected the sellers' lives since they bought it a year previously. The advert also included a series of pictures of the picture 'changing form' at night - caught on film by a webcam. The last two pictures purport to show the doll coming to life and using a 'gun' held in her hand to force the boy to leave the painting. According to the artist, the object presumed by the E-bay sellers to be a gun is actually nothing more than a dry cell battery and a tangle of wires. Within hours of the painting appearing on E-bay, its story and link were being passed around the world via the Internet. The buyer, who wished to remain anonymous, later gave an interview to paranormal website 'Surfing the Apocalypse' about their experience with the 'haunted' painting.
Few years later, Bill Stoneham created another two painting which is the sequels of "The Hands Resist Him" painting and can be seen on this website. The first sequel called "Resistance at the Threshold", this one created on 2004 showed the 5-years-old boy has grown up into 40 years old man wearing a hat with the same style as the first painting. Another sequel on 2012 called "Threshold of Revelation", it showed the same 40 years old man in the shallow water (maybe in a sewer) with a little girl holding a mask/doll's face.
Sources:
http://stonehamstudios.com/haunted.html;
http://www.stonehamstudios.com/hands-series.html;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hands_Resist_Him;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/unexplained/2002/haunted_painting/ebay_haunted_painting_01.shtml;
http://listverse.com/2011/10/14/10-more-unsettling-paintings/;
http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.com/haunted_painting.html
Pic Source:
I don't believe it I want to see that video of the kid leaving the picture
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