History Main / AnomalousArt

SuperTrope to CreepyChangingPainting, LivingDrawing, LivingStatue, PhantomZonePicture, PortalPicture and SpookyPainting. SubTrope of ArtifactOfPower. Related to MagicalCamera if the photos contain magical properties, and TrappedInTVLand when the artwork entraps people into its "world". Related to FictionalPainting.

* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': Various [=SCPs=] are works of art that are supernatural in origin. Many of them are created by a group called Are We Cool Yet?, an avant-garde art movement consisting of a loosely-organized collection of anomalous artists ("anartists") that create works of art that are sentient or possess some form of supernatural properties.

** Instances of [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-531 SCP-531]] are brass statues of cats with interesting properties should they make eye contact. If it isn't broken, humans have a strong psychological aversion to passing between the statues, and if eye contact is broken, the person who broke eye contact will slowly transform into another statue with identical properties. Interestingly, the Foundation has interest in applying these statues for its own security purposes.

* In Stephen King's ''Literature/DumaKey'', the protagonist Edgar Freemantle is an amateur painter who is unknowingly channeling his artistic ability via an EldritchAbomination or GeniusLoci named Perse. The painitngs can [[spoiler: predict the future, heal a brain injury, kill via sleep apnea, and eventually Perse possesses an art critic via a painting and makes the art critic murder Edgar's daughter.]]

* In a Stephen King short story "Literature/TheRoadVirusHeadsNorth", the protagonist purchases a painting and finds that the details of the painting are changing in a unsetting way. He also can't get rid of the painting.

** [[https://rpcauthority.wikidot.com/rpc-478 RPC-478]] no longer is, but was in the past an anomalous painting that could transport people into itself, now it's just a painting.

* Using the loose realities of the mindscape Union, MadArtist and serial killer Stefano Valentini in ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin2'' uses his RealityWarping abilities to transform the innocent people unfortunate enough to be in Union with him into {{Gorn}}[=ish=] art pieces. Many of these works of art are their grisly murders rendered in slow-motion. Other works of art take the form of freakish monsters such as the Guardian, a towering creature with multiple women's heads and a chainsaw for an arm, and Obscura, a grotesque amalgamation of two women victims with a time-freezing antique camera for a head.

** "The Watchers". This work depicts a wooded area with heavy undergrowth. Anyone who looks at it carefully can see the eyes of creatures looking through the brush. Anyone who looks at it for too long can have their mind transferred into that of a small woodland animal living nearby.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', a millionaire won a Magicite shard from auction, which turns out to be a remain of the Esper of Beauty Lakhsmi. The millionaire, smitten by the Magicite, hires Relm to paint the Esper, but a demon named Chardanook possesses the painting and corrupts the rest of the millionaire's mansion into a haunted house full of hostile living paintings.

* ''Literature/TheGhostsOfSleath'': A painting of [[HauntedHouse Lockwood Hall]], independently of any perceptible flame, melts, cracks and smokes.

* The ''Wiki/RPCAuthority'' has some of theses on its hands:

* The Painting that Ate Paris which became the central plot device of an arc in ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol''. A DrosteImage of a painting in a studio apartment, the recursion contains an endless pocket dimension that shifts to different art styles in different levels. The arc gets its name from the Brotherhood of Dada using it to absorb Paris, leaving a barren valley in its place. After the Doom Patrol follows them within, they find that whatever ritual empowered it also captured the Horseman of Oblivion, and their activity awakened it to seek its freedom.

* In the wizarding world of ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', many of the works of art present are shown to be magical in origin, most notably photographs and paintings (especially the many, many portraits littered across the halls of Hogwarts) being animate to the point of being sentient.

** "The Blessed Ones" painting causes any viewer to gain one Insanity point and, if one drop of blood fell on it then two Unholy Ones are released and, if successful, the viewer is locked in the painting forever.

* The ''Wiki/RPCAuthority'' has some of theses on it's hands:
** The Academy of True Art (a.k.a L'Academia Della Vera Arte) is an academy that employs anomalies in it's teachings of art, everything from visual to auditory the AOTA has you covered. Unless you try and kill someone that is, more common than you think.

* The Painting that Ate Paris which became the central plot device of an arc in ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol''. A DrosteImage of a painting in a studio apartment, the recursion contains an endless pocket dimension that shifts to different art styles in different levels. The arc gets its name from the Brotherhood of Dada using it to absorb Paris, leaving a barren valley in its place. After the Doom Patrol follows them within, they find that whatever ritual empowered it also captured the Horseman of Oblivion, and their activity awakened it to seek its freedom.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''Franchise/HarryPotter'': In ''Film/FantasticBeastsTheCrimesOfGrindelwald'', the entrance to Montmartre (the Parisian equivalent of Diagon Alley) is guarded in plain sight by a bronze statue depicting a woman sitting on a pedestal. When a witch or wizard approaches it, the statue will move its leg and dress away from the pedestal it was set on, opening the passage.

* ''Film/ArtOfTheDead'' is about a collection of seven paintings based on the SevenDeadlySins that cause those who stay in their presence for too long to slowly be consumed by the corresponding sin.

* In the wizarding world of ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', many of the works of art present are shown to be magical in origin, most notably photographs and paintings (especially the many, many portraits littered across the halls of Hogwarts) being animate to the point of being sentient.
* The title protagonist of ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray'' unwittingly sells his soul to have his eponymous portrait age and suffer misfortune in his stead -- which works.
* In ''Literature/LabyrinthsOfEcho'', the Books of Burning Pages are ancient artifacts created by a mad poet who also happened to be a powerful Grand Magister. Anyone who reads one is caught in an anti-LotusEaterMachine of sorts, which shows their life going to utter hell, first driving them insane and then killing them outright, after which the book burns up (hence their name). It is theorized that each book contains a single poem composed by the Magister, who was so proud of his creations that he wanted each to be read by exactly one (random) person -- who then dies for having enjoyed this privilege. Max, the protagonist of the series, has a run-in with one of these Books in the penultimate volume, [[spoiler:and is saved in the nick of time -- after he starts reading the poem, but before he goes completely insane]].

* In ''Literature/TheDarkIsRising'', it's possible to cast spells by painting them; the result comes out as a hideous-looking abstract work, [[PowerGlows which glows in the dark]].
* In Stephen King's ''Literature/DumaKey'', the protagonist Edgar Freemantle is an amateur painter who is unknowingly channeling his artistic ability via an EldritchAbomination or GeniusLoci named Perse. The painitngs can [[spoiler: predict the future, heal a brain injury, kill via sleep apnea, and eventually Perse possesses an art critic via a painting and makes the art critic murder Edgar's daughter.]]

* ''Series/PennyDreadful'' includes [[PublicDomainCharacter Dorian Gray]] on the roster, presumably decades after the original novel. We occasionally see his portrait, depicting him as extremely decrepit and emaciated, and we also see how it works: whenever Dorian suffers any kind of harm, it is transferred to his picture after a short time, returning him to perfect health and youth. Throughout the series, Dorian abuses this power to live a [[DepravedBisexual life of utter debauchery]].
* ''Series/{{GARO}}'''s first episode began with the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Horror]] Anglay coming out of a woman's nude portrait and possessing the gallery owner.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'':
** ''Trompe L'oeil'' paintings are magically-enhanced copies of an original creature that can step off the canvas, assume solid three-dimensional forms, and even inhabit other paintings. These entities can only be permanently killed by destroying the painting that generates them.
** {{Invoked|Trope}} with the ''Seeded Doom'' [[RitualMagic Occult Ritual]], which corrupts a [[DeadlyBook book]], artwork, or piece of music. Anyone exposed to the work or one of its copies is [[BrownNote infected with madness]] or a {{Curse}} chosen by the ritualists.

* ''{{VideoGame/Ib}}'' is based heavily around this trope, with much of the game taking place in an art gallery exhibit of a MadArtist by the name of Guertena, whose art pieces attack the protagonists. Later in the game [[spoiler: they explore a NightmareFuelColoringBook world created by Mary, a CreepyChild who is actually a living painting created by Guertena]].
* A scenario in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' has monsters take advantage of a local artist's pieces of art (a clock tower and a painting) to terrorise a town. Unlike other examples though, this is a lot more mild, and the monsters only use the art itself to attack the village. The characters have to literally go into the dimension controlling the GroundhogDayLoop through a painting.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'' has a scenario in which the monster of the week, [[Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray Dora-in-Grey]], takes the form of a mural that can lead to another dimension. Her m.o? To prey on peoples' desire for glory by telling them that her mural will bring glory to its viewers, or appeal to sympathy by pretending to be a little girl whose parents were lost looking at the mural. Once they're trapped, she lures them into her trap and adds them to her mural.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', a millionaire won a Magicite shard from auction, which turns out to be a remain of the Esper of Beauty Lakhsmi. The millionaire, smitten by the Magicite, hires Relm to paint the Esper, but a demon named Chardanook possesses the painting and corrupts the rest of the millionaire's mansion into a haunted house full of hostile living paintings.

* ''VideoGame/CultistSimulator'': The player character can create their own. By using the right exotic pigments and a matching source of inspiration, you can create a painting so steeped in one of the arcane Principles of magic that it can be used as a tool in RitualMagic. The Ghoul legacy takes this even further; your patron and mentor is Miss Naenia, a semi-divine Name that incarnated in a painting, and you progress towards victory by consuming corpses of occult significance and using the memories you gained to create the Palest Painting.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', uses warping paintings to enter different levels. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' brings this back as an homage, but it's used to rematch bosses instead.
* In ''Videogame/{{Arknights}}'', all of Dusk's art can have these kinds of properties [[RealityWarper if she chooses to.]] She can paint scrolls which transport people to created universes, and can [[ArtInitiatesLife manifest people or monsters out of her painting based on her emotions.]] She's able to do this because [[spoiler: [[PiecesOfGod she's part of a shattered god,]] and like the rest of her "siblings" her divine power tends to manifest in a form of art or craftsmanship, and in Dusk's case this is painting.]]

SuperTrope to CreepyChangingPainting, LivingStatue, PhantomZonePicture, PortalPicture and SpookyPainting. SubTrope of ArtifactOfPower. Related to MagicalCamera if the photos contain magical properties, and TrappedInTVLand when the artwork entraps people into its "world". Related to FictionalPainting.

* There are various [=SCPs=] discovered by the Wiki/SCPFoundation that are works of art that are supernatural in origin. Many of them are created by a group called Are We Cool Yet?, an avant-garde art movement consisting of a loosely-organized collection of anomalous artists ("anartists") that create works of art that are sentient or possess some form of supernatural properties.
** An early example is [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-099 SCP-099,]] also known as "The Portrait" by René Magritte (a non-anomalous copy is in the Museum of Modern Art currently). When viewed at a close distance, it induces intense paranoia, which lasts if viewed for too long. [[spoiler: Not only is it suggested to be intentional, but someone attempted to weaponize it.]]

** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-804 SCP-804]] is a modern art piece of a globe that breaks down all artificial objects until they disintegrate, while humans will starve and die, all within an ever-expanding radius. Thankfully, it's not immune to its own effects, so it shut itself down, and the freezing cold of the Alaskan wilderness should prevent it from starting again. [[spoiler:It doesn't have any memetic effects, either- [[AnimalWrongsGroup the artists]] built it simply because they wanted to see humanity die.]]

* The Painting that Ate Paris which became the central plot device of an arc in ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol''. A DrosteImage of a painting in a studio apartment, the recursion contains an endless pocket dimension that shifts to different art styles in different levels. After the Doom Patrol follows the Brotherhood of Dada within, they find that whatever ritual empowered it also captured a Horseman of Apocalypse, and their activity awakened it to seek freedom.

* Using the loose realities of the mindscape Union, MadArtist and serial killer Stephano Valentino in ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin2'' uses his RealityWarping abilities to transform the innocent people unfortunate enough to be in Union with him into {{Gorn}}[=ish=] art pieces. Many of these works of art are their grisly murders rendered in slow-motion. Other works of art take the form of freakish monsters such as the Guardian, a towering creature with multiple women's heads and a chainsaw for an arm, and Obscura, a grotesque amalgamation of two women victims with a time-freezing antique camera for a head.

** [[http://www.rpc-wiki.net/rpc-478 RPC-478]] no longer is, but was in the past an anomalous painting that could transport people into itself, now it's just a painting.

** An early example is [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-099 SCP-099,]] also known as "The Portrait" by René Magritte (a non-anomalous copy is in the Museum of Modern Art currently). When viewed at a close distance, it induces intense paranoia, which lasts if viewed for too long. [[spoiler: Not only is it suggested to be intentional, but someone attempted to weaponize it.]]
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-146 SCP-146]] is the head of a bronze statue which induces traumatic memories in anyone who makes eye contact, which gets worse with longer exposure, up to and including vivid hallucinations of the memory followed by catatonia. Thankfully, photographs induce no such effect.
** Like the above, photos of [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-151 SCP-151]] are completely safe. Unlike the above, it's a painting from the view of someone underwater, and viewing the painting for a split second causes the viewer to suffer lethal dry drowning over a period of 24 hours.
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-368 SCP-368]] is an origami crane that acts as a living crane would.
** Instances of [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-531 SCP-531]] are brass statues of cats with interesting properties should they make eye contact. If it isn't broken, humans have a strong psychological aversion to passing between the statues, and if eye contact is broken, the person who broke eye contact will slowly transform into another statue with identical properties. Interestingly, the Foundation has interest in applying these statues for its own security purposes.
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-800 SCP-800]] is a paper scroll that updates itself to reflect East Asian military conflicts. The scroll has been around since the late 19th century, and has taken forms representing the Russo-Japanese War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It can be edited, but the Foundation heavily discourages it, as [[spoiler:North Korea ran a nuclear test]] a short time after the scroll was changed.
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-804 SCP-804]] is a modern art piece of a globe that breaks down all artificial objects until they disintegrate, while humans will starve and die, all within an ever-expanding radius. Thankfully, it's not immune to its own effects, so it shut itself down, and the freezing cold of the Alaskan wilderness should prevent it from starting again. [[spoiler:It doesn't have any memetic effects, either- [[AnimalWrongsGroup the artists]] built it simply because they wanted to see humanity die.]]

* "[[https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/The_Portrait%27s_Secret The Portrait's Secret]]" is a ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' Normal Monster card. It is a portrait cursed to life by its creator and brings ill fortune to its owner.

** An early example is [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-099 SCP-099]], also known as "The Portrait" by René Magritte (a non-anomalous copy is in the Museum of Modern Art currently). When viewed at a close distance, it induces intense paranoia, which lasts if viewed for too long. [[spoiler: Not only is it suggested to be intentional, but someone attempted to weaponize it.]]

* ''Art of the Dead'' is about a collection of seven paintings based on the SevenDeadlySins that cause those who stay in their presence for too long to slowly be consumed by the corresponding sin.