A 77-year-old Brazilian woman claims an array of legendary dead artists including Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Vincent van Gogh are creating new work through her.

Valdelice Da Silva Dias Salum is a medium and a follower of Spiritism. Whilst Spiritists follow the Gospel, they also believe in reincarnation and that the dead communicate—and create—via a select group of individuals.

Salum explains that she knew the spirits were trying to manifest themselves through her when she was a child. She recalls strange incidents such as the TV turning on without warning, or the radio suddenly playing at full volume.

According to Salum, Auguste Renoir drew this portrait through her.
Photo: Lourdes Garcia-Navarro via NPR

The Spiritist admits that she has little formal education and no artistic talent. However, according to NPR, when she manages to channel the spirits, creations in the style of deceased masters quickly take shape. Sometimes she completes works in less than 20 minutes.

“I don’t know what they are going to do and what they are going to paint,” Salum told NPR. “I’m totally enveloped by them. I don’t have a sense of time passing.”

She signs the creations with the names of the deceased master who painted through her. Salum’s home includes works signed by Renoir, Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and many others.

Other artists who Salum claims have created works through her from beyond the grave include Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Claude Monet (L to R)
Photo: Lourdes Garcia-Navarro via NPR

When asked about the comparatively poor artistic quality of the artworks, she said it was difficult for the dead artists to express themselves from the spiritual into the physical world, “It’s because of my lack of knowledge. They are using me as an instrument, but I am weak,” she explains.

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