The crying little boy by Jose Lok

About "The crying little boy"

by Jose Lok

About the artwork

Urban legend of the crying boy
The paintings are well known, you see them hanging here and there, and there are collectors who love nothing more than snooping for new variations of the crying shabby boy and the pathetic girl with the long hair, big eyes and fat tears. Around the paintings, the replicas and the after prints that have been made of them, a myth has emerged, an urban legend, an urban legend or sandwich-monkey story. Behind the big sad eyes is said to be a big secret, just as there is a secret behind the maker of the original. Little is known about him, which gives substance to legend-making.

Tear just over the eyelid
There are several variants of the crying child in circulation. If you do a quick search on the internet, you will soon come across 20 different ones, small children, slightly older children, boys, girls, dark, blond. One element is standard in this type of painting, and that is the tears just dropping over the eyelid or rolling down the cheeks. Reproductions can still be found here and there at flea markets and thrift shops, but where the original works are is unknown. Most of the portraits bear a signature of G. Bragolin in the upper right corner.

Bragolin
It is a mysterious master, this Bragolin. Searches for the painter lead to Venice, among other places. There was one Bruno Amadio (1911-1981) who worked under the pseudonym Giovanni Bragolin. He painted local folk boys because they were in demand.