In our ongoing effort to bring you the hottest news that’s two decades old, we here at Kindertrauma felt it was our responsibility to alert our fair readers about the dreaded curse of the crying boy painting. If you already own this piece of art, then chances are you may be reading this post from a pile of smoldering ashes. In 1985, a fire fighter from Yorkshire told the British tabloid THE SUN that he and his co-workers were beginning to get freaked out by a phenomena they could not explain. On repeat occasions, they had witnessed homes completely destroyed by fire, save for this lone mass-produced painting. After the story was published, THE SUN was flooded with letters from readers who had experienced the same thing. It was decided that the painting was cursed and the newspaper orchestrated mass bonfires. Some say even the warehouse that the newspaper had used to store the retrieved, waiting to be destroyed paintings, burned to the ground. More and more unsubstantiated rumors encircled the paintings. Some said if you saved the picture from harm, it would bring you fortune or if you hung it next to a crying girl painting it would defuse its evil power. There are several different versions of the work as painter BRUNO AMADIO (AKA BRUNO BRAGOLIN)’s entire oeuvre consists of images of waifish street children with tear-stained cheeks. Eventually the originally quoted fireman claimed he was misquoted and that the entire frenzy was the result of a slow news day for THE SUN. Whether the painting is actually cursed or simply strangely fireproof is a still a mystery. All I know is, you won’t find this painting hanging on my wall, I’ll stick to the less CHARLIE MCGEE–like large eyed kitties and puppies produced by American artist MARGARET KEANE.