5 Works of Art to Decorate Your Home for Halloween

5 Works of Art to Decorate Your Home for Halloween

 

Halloween is yet another thing that will be very different this year. But whilst we may not be able to enjoy fancy dress parties and apple bobbing, there are plenty of ways to celebrate the spine-chilling season at home.

If you’re lacking in the Halloween spirit this year, why not take a look at these eerie artworks from our collection to indulge in some creative inspiration in decorating your home for the holiday.

1. Figures With Masks and Birds by Sabrina Shah.

 

Source: https://moderndecorative.com/ . 
Oil on canvas. 
180cm x 180cm.

Alive with frenetic energy, this dreamlike or perhaps even nightmarish scene transports you into a distant memory of an evening trick-or-treating in the dark, with people dressed in their ghoulish masks and creepy costumes. The artist, Sabrina Shah, gained her M.A. from the Royal College of Art and has exhibited widely across the UK. In her own words, 

‘I want to acknowledge and encourage a sense of vulnerability in both, you the viewer and the characters. The figures who populate the work are groups of animal-faced anthropomorphic figures who don’t quite fit…Animals reflect our deeper, unconditioned and infantile nature, the inherent “creatureliness” of humans’.

Anthropomorphism has been used by cultures across the ages to expose our innermost spirits. In this painting, Shah uses this fantastical imagery to draw the viewer out of their safe haven by confronting us with these menacing characters.

 

  1. Francis Bacon Style Figure.

 

Source: https://moderndecorative.com/
c.1975. Signed by an unidentified artist.
Watercolour, gouache and pencil on card.
45.5cm x 45.5cm.

 

The torturous anguish conveyed by this distorted human body could be plucked straight out of a Halloween favourite such as SAW or The Hills Have Eyes. The artist’s dark palette and unbridled, energetic brush strokes have faultlessly captured the signature brutality of Francis Bacon’s style, whilst conveying a powerful sense of emotion and suffering to compliment the visceral rawness of the piece. If you like to add a bit of an edge to your interior decorating, this work would make a dynamic centrepiece which would be sure to attract the attention of your guests. Bacon’s work is amongst the most sought-after and exclusive in today’s art market, so this interpretation of his style would make an ultra-trendy addition to a contemporary home without the colossal price tag.

 

  1. Ladies by a Window (Femme A La Fenêtre)

Source: https://moderndecorative.com/
Unsigned. 1800 to 1870.
Indian ink on paper.
9cm x 9cm.

 

Although a rather elegant and delicate drawing, this intimate image of two Victorian ladies has an undeniable eeriness. Perhaps this is because today, Victorian mansions such as the one depicted are considered the archetypal haunted house. Despite a skilled use of light and shadow, the gloominess of the piece creates a sombre atmosphere, and overcasts the scene with a sense of entrapment of these two women gazing out of the large, perhaps Gothic or Romanesque window with its sweeping curtains. There is certainly an intriguing mystery about this curious piece, and perhaps it is hinting at the supernatural...

 

 4. Mythological Elf with Lantern.

 

  Source: https://moderndecorative.com/
Signed by an unidentified artist. c.1975.
Etching on paper.
76.5cm x 56.5cm

 

In this fantastical scene, a peculiar elf-like figure stands before a shelf of mystical objects. His pose and the lantern he holds suggest that this mythical creature may be the legendary ‘Will-o’-the-wisp’ as it is called in UK folk tales, but which is curiously found in folklore around the world. This character is often malicious in stories, and is known to use this ‘fairy fire’ in his hand to deviously lead travellers astray in the night, typically into a marsh or a bog, where he will then extinguish his flame and leave the victim lost. There are similar stories present in cultures across the world, so much so that modern scientists have attempted to explain this phenomenon as being caused by the oxidisation of gases in the air which may cause ephemeral fires. This mischievous character is fantastically drawn by the artist, and would make for an exciting spooky story to tell your friends. 

 

  1. Lithograph of a Malaysian Ghost Walker Ant.

Source: https://moderndecorative.com/
Signed by an unidentified artist. c.1960.
Lithograph on paper. Framed.
75cm x 52cm.

  

It wouldn’t be Halloween without some creepy-crawlies, and this daring image boldly designed in red and black shows the peculiar ‘ghost walker ant’ which has a mythical background in Malay culture. It has adopted this name due to the strong significance of ghosts in the cultural background of the country, of which there are many ghostly myths founded in old animalist beliefs of Hindu-Buddhist cosmology and later Muslim influences. Tales of the vampires Pontianak and Penanggal are prevalent in the region, which may have been the inspiration for the name of this ghoulish red and black insect. 

 

If you want to see some slightly less spooky art, go and check out our full collection at https://moderndecorative.com/. Happy Halloween!

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