The Hands Resist Him

The ‘Hands’ Series

The Hands Resist Him, 1972

The original painting was inspired by a photo of the artist as a young boy with a friend in front of a Chicago apartment door. Stoneham describes the glass as the ‘thin veil’ and the hands as ‘other lives’. Scroll down or click ‘The story’ for more about this ‘haunted’ painting.

The story
Resistance at the Threshold, 2004

This initial sequel commission enticed Stoneham back to his brushes after ten years of digital-only work. The characters have evolved, the hands are emerging, and symbols of new life are approaching. The effect of this, and the entire sequel series, had a significant impact on Stoneham.
The Threshold of Revelation, 2012

The second commissioned sequel builds upon the previous, further evolving the man - now old but still intensely curious, and the doll - now a real girl just beginning her own discoveries. During the time of this painting’s creation, a previously unknown family with an amazing real girl was revealed to Stoneham.
The Hands Invent Him, 2017

This commission presents as a prequel of sorts. We see the original image but from the other side of the glass. We see the young artist who has been intensely busy, judging by the curious debris surrounding him. Stoneham experienced personal joys and losses and yet new discoveries during these years - the debris of the mysteries of his birth. This painting hangs at the Haunted Museum in Las Vegas, NV.
What Remains, 2021

The legend of the 'haunted painting' may persist, but this final piece of the sequel series represents Stoneham's poignant farewell to the transformative influences and sorrowful departures he has associated with the saga of The Hands Resist Him.
Stoneham Studios warns all who seek internet posts, etc. about the haunted painting, to doubt more than you believe.

The story of the eBay Haunted Painting, from the artist’s perspective

One day in 2000, William Stoneham received a curious email asking if he knew The Hands Resist Him. He hadn’t heard that title in 25 years but knew immediately what the email referred to. Stoneham replied ‘yes’ and he soon heard the story of the eBay auction from the auction winner, Kim Smith, owner of Perception Gallery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Stoneham and Smith, who still owns the painting, have maintained a friendly communication over the years.

The story of the haunted painting auction wove itself into the early social media world and that is where it has lived and grown for nearly 25 years. Stoneham has been interviewed many times by radio broadcasters, print media, podcast interviewers, and many personal contacts through his Stoneham Studios website. A few of the best are linked in the Media attention section on this page. Wikipedia maintains a consistently accurate account.

Stoneham’s initial, and most repeated response to interviewers:

Where to begin? Well I've always had a connection to what Carl Jung called the collective unconscious. I think we all do. Artists - especially visual artists - are barometers for the currents that run through this collective. Dreams are a common experience people may have with this. Anyway, my own experience is a sensitivity to place – physical, geographical place. There are memories, echoes of all the life within a place. Maybe it's what's called channeling. When I painted the Hands Resist Him in 1972, I used an old photo of myself at age five in a Chicago apartment. The hands are the 'other lives.' The glass door, that thin veil between waking and dreaming. The girl/doll is the imagined companion, or guide through this realm.

Both the owner of the Gallery where 'Hands' was displayed and the Los Angeles Times art critic who reviewed my show were dead within a year of the show. I'm sure it was coincidence, but some of what I paint resonates in other people, opening the inner door. Or basement. By the way, I still have no idea what happened to the character actor who bought the painting at the show (editor note: it was John Marley, who died in 1984), or how it ended up abandoned in a building, though I could speculate. - Bill

(Inspiration for the painting’s title, this poem was written in acknowledgement of Stoneham’s having been an orphan.)
He is of the seeing visions
His strokes reveal them
In a rush- of color, of madness
of mystics
And his head is the highest center
It must confront its enemy,
The hands - resist him - like the secret of his birth.
His presence is the sanctum heartbeat
Felt in darkness and in passion
Its sound, the sole gift to that silence.
- R. Ponseti, 1971
If you wish to use ‘The Hands Resist Him’ image for reprint or digital media purposes, you must recieve written permission from Darren K. O’Neill, the copyright owner.
The story is shared all over the Web these days; search on ‘eBay haunted painting’ for a good start.
Here are a few of our favorites:
— Empty Frames podcast (2/2020)
— Crawlspace podcast (12/2019)
— The Daily Dot story, by Fernando Alfonso III (well written and accurate)
— Wikipedia
— BBC story
A creepy story based on the ‘Hands’ legend, by D.K. O'Neill? We like it!
Get it on Amazon

The Hands Resist Him