Artists and authors who destroyed their own work (2024)

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Franz Kafka-

Before he died in 1924, the famous novelist burned a lot of his writings. Kafka also asked his literary executor, Max Brod, to destroy any unfinished manuscripts after his death.

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Franz Kafka-

Luckily, Brod went against Kafka's wishes and many of the novelist's famous works were then published. Pictured are pages from the original manuscript of Kafka's unfinished novel 'The Trial,' which was published posthumously in 1925.

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Claude Monet-

Following an exhibition in Paris in 1908, the Impressionist painter destroyed 15 of his paintings using a a knife and a paint brush.

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Claude Monet-

Monet did it again just before he died. This time, he had the help of his stepdaughter Blanche, with whom he destroyed around 60 canvases in his studio.

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Georgia O'Keeffe-

During the final years of her life, the "Mother of American modernism" bought back several of her paintings and destroyed them.

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Banksy-

In 2018, Banksy's famous 'Girl with Balloon' was sold at an auction in London. The frame had a self-shredding mechanism, and even though it malfunctioned, it shredded part of the work. The piece gained a new name: 'Love is in the Bin.'

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Michelangelo-

The Italian sculptor damaged his own work, the famous 'The Deposition,' after working on it for eight years.

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Michelangelo-

Apparently, the artist did so after he became enraged because his servant Urbino was constantly urging him to finish it. Luckily, 'The Deposition' was passed on to a friend, it was restored, and ultimately survived.

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James Joyce-

The story goes that the Irish novelist was not happy about his autobiographical novel 'Stephen Hero,' so he threw it in the fire.

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James Joyce-

Luckily, Joyce's sister Eileen and his wife, Nora Barnacle, saved it from complete destruction. Though the manuscript was incomplete, the book was published posthumously in 1944.

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Francis Bacon-

In 1944, the artist destroyed many of his early works. Bacon believed that his surrealist paintings didn't reflect his view of the world at the time.

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Francis Bacon-

Francis Bacon's studio was filled with numerous ruined works of art, which were not discovered until 1992, when he passed away.

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Robert Louis Stevenson-

When the Scottish novelist showed his wife, Fanny Stevenson, the first draft of 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,' the feedback wasn't good.

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Robert Louis Stevenson-

Fanny Stevenson (pictured) recalled the story as "a quire full of utter nonsense." The harsh criticism prompted Stevenson to rewrite it completely. Some 30,000 words later, and he had his masterpiece.

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Jasper Johns-

In 1954, the artist simply decided to destroy everything he had previously created.

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Jasper Johns-

Johns went on to become a very accomplished artist, though unfortunately we don't really know what his previous work looked like.

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Gerhard Richter-

Many works of the German artist have been sold at record prices at auction, so it's easy to see that any work produced by Richter would be massively valuable. But it turns out the artist wasn't too happy about some of his creations, and destroyed them.

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Gerhard Richter-

Richter does seem to regret getting rid of every piece. "Sometimes, when I see one of the photos, I think to myself: That’s too bad; you could have let this one or that one survive," the artist confessed.

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Nikolai Gogol-

The father of Russian realism published the very successful novel 'Dead Souls' in 1842. Gogol then worked for many years on parts two and three of the sequel. Nikolai Gogol's creative decline led him to believe that God didn't approve of his work.

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Nikolai Gogol-

So he sought spiritual guidance from Father Matvey Konstantinovsky, who indeed confirmed that his work was not satisfactory and encouraged the Russian novelist to burn the manuscript. Gogol did so, and died 10 days later.

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Gerard Manley Hopkins-

The Victorian poet became a Jesuit in 1868, and burned all his previous work. Luckily, Hopkins returned to writing in 1875 and didn't destroy his later works, which include 'The Wreck of the Deutschland.'

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John Baldessari-

In 1970, the artist destroyed all his paintings created from 1953 to 1966. Baldessari called it 'The Cremation Project.'

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John Baldessari-

Once his work was destroyed at a California crematorium, Baldessari collected the ashes and put them in an urn with a plaque that read "May 1953–March 1966." He also went on to bake cookies with the ashes; a work he called 'Corpus Wafers.'

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Blu-

When the Italian street artist found out that his murals were being taken to a different location, he decided to destroy them. "This exhibition will embellish and legitimize the hoarding of art taken off the street, which is only going to please unscrupled collectors and merchants," Blu said.

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Charles Camoin-

After falling into a severe depression in 1913, the French painter proceeded to slash over 80 of his paintings.

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Jean Tinguely-

In 1960, the Swiss sculptor and other artists created a self-destructing 27-foot-high (8.2 m) construction, which was titled 'Homage to New York.' The piece was exhibited (and collapsed) at the Museum of Modern Art.

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Agnes Martin-

The abstract expressionist painter actually destroyed all her early works, which included landscape paintings. Only her minimalist works have survived.

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Louise Bourgeois-

Better known for her large-scale sculptures and installations, the French-American artist was known for attacking and destroying her work when she had outbursts of anxiety, according to her assistant, Jerry Gorovy.

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Aubrey Beardsley-

The English illustrator and author is best known for his illustrations for Oscar Wilde’s play 'Salome' (1894). Unlike others on this list, Aubrey Beardsley didn't manage to destroy his works, but his intention was certainly to do so.

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Aubrey Beardsley-

Beardsley eventually lost his job because of his association with Wilde (who was being tried for indecency), moved to Paris, and died aged 25. Before he did so, he asked his publisher to destroy all his erotic drawings. Luckily, his publisher ignored his instructions, and the work survived.

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Vladimir Nabokov-

Before he died, the Russian-American novelist left his wife Vera the novel 'The Original of Laura,' with instructions for it to be destroyed.

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Vladimir Nabokov-

Nabokov's wife didn't carry out her husband’s wishes, and the manuscript passed on to their son, Dmitri, who published it in 2008. Though according to critics, the novel should indeed have been destroyed!

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Dante Gabriel Rossetti-

When Rossetti's wife, Lizzie Siddal, died, the English poet placed a notebook with his poetry inside her casket.

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Dante Gabriel Rossetti-

Six years later, Rossetti hired some men to exhume the casket from Highgate Cemetery, so that he could retrieve the notebook. He went on to publish the poems.

Sources: (Mental Floss) (The New York Times) (Artland Magazine) (Listverse) (Tomatoheart)(Smithsonian Magazine) (Khan Academy) (Books Tell You Why)

See also: The most influential authors of the 20th century

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