Lost artworks

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Lost artworks may be lost to history either through the deliberate or accidental destruction of the original, or through ignorance and loss of connoisseurship.

For lost literary works, see Lost work.

1 Classical era
2 6th century
3 15th century
4 16th century
5 17th century
6 18th century
7 20th century
- 7.1 Works destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks
- 7.2 Works destroyed in the Momart fire
8 See also
9 References/external links

[edit] Classical era

The "Colossus of Rhodes," one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World

[edit] 6th century

The Buddhas of Bamyan, destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

[edit] 15th century

Several original paintings on "pagan" subjects by Sandro Botticelli, who burned them in the Bonfire of the Vanities.

[edit] 16th century

Leda and the Swan (1508) by Leonardo da Vinci
Battle of Anghiari by Leonardo da Vinci (Palazzo Vecchio)
Cartoon by Michelangelo on same topic, Palazzo Vecchio, putatively destroyed by Bandinelli
Leda and the Swan (circa 1530) by Michelangelo
Portrait of Isabella d’Este in Red by Titian.
A bronze statue of David resting his foot on the severed head of Goliath, by Michelangelo.
A portrait of Alof de Wignacourt by Caravaggio.
Altarpiece of the Madonna and Child with St. Mary Magdalen and St. Lucy by Antonio da Correggio.
Portrait of a Young Man by Raphael. Confiscated by the Nazis, now lost [1].
Hans Holbein the Younger's Whitehall Mural of Henry VIII and family in the Palace of Whitehall, destroyed by fire in 1698.
Various works of Titian, Gentile da Fabriano, Pisanello, Gentile and Giovanni Bellini were lost in a fire at the Doge's Palace in Venice in 1577.
Martyrdom of St Peter (Titian, San Giovanni e Paolo) (fire).
Last Judgement Cartoons, (Pontormo, San Lorenzo) covered over.

[edit] 17th century

Time Saving Truth from Envy and Discord by Nicolas Poussin.
The Circumcision (1646) by Rembrandt.
The Inspiration of Matthew first version by Caravaggio (~1601) (During bombing of Berlin in WWII)

[edit] 18th century

The Amber Room of the Catherine Palace in Russia was lost during World War II.
The Drawing Lesson and A Girl Reciting her Gospel by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin.
The original paintings of A Harlot's Progress (1731) by William Hogarth were destroyed in a fire at Fonthill Abbey in 1755, but the engravings (1732) survive.
The Eidophusikon (1781) by Philip James de Loutherbourg.
Le Pelletier on his Death Bed (1793) by Jacques-Louis David.

[edit] 20th century

Graham Sutherland's portrait of Winston Churchill (1954) was deliberately destroyed by Lady Churchill because she did not like it.
Some 20 works were created on camera and then deliberately destroyed by Pablo Picasso for the documentary Le Mystère Picasso (The Mystery of Picasso, 1956) [2].
30 January 1979, Varig 707-323C freighter, registration PP-VLU. Flown by the same captain of Flight 820 disappears over the ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo. No sign of the crash (wreckage or bodies) was ever found. The aircraft was carrying 153 paintings, worth USD 1.24 million.
"Study after Velazquez III" (1950), Francis Bacon [3]. Third in a series of portraits after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X, 1650. All three were thought destroyed by the artist until the first two surfaced 1999.
"Untitled Wall Relief," by Craig Kauffman (1967), an acrylic lacquer on Plexiglas piece, it fell off the wall and shattered July 16, 2006 at the Pompidou Center of Paris [4]
Untitled piece by Peter Alexander (1971), an 8 ft. x 5 in. molded polyester resin work, fell and shattered April, 2006 at the Pompidou Center of Paris [5]
Anish Kapoor's wood and cement sculpture "Hole and Vessel" (1984) was discovered missing from its storage unit in 2004.
Richard Serra's 38-ton metal sculpture "Equal-Parallel/Guernica-Bengasi" (1986), formerly displayed at the Reina Sofia museum, was unable to be located in 2006 [6]
"Goddess of Democracy" (1989) by students of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, was destroyed by The People's Liberation Army during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
Rachel Whiteread's enormous sculpture "House" (1993) was destroyed by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets council on January 11, 1994.

[edit] Works destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks

Many works of art were destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks when the World Trade Center buildings collapsed.

"Ideogram" (1967) stainless steel sculpture by James Rosati
"Cloud Fortress" (1975) a large, black granite piece by Japanese artist Masayuki Nagare, destroyed in the 9/11 rescue and recovery efforts.
"The World Trade Center Tapestry" a 20' x 35' tapestry by Joan Miró
"Sky Gate, New York" (1977-78) by Louise Nevelson
A memorial fountain for the victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing by Elyn Zimmerman
"World Trade Center Stabile" (1971) a 25' red steel sculpture by Alexander Calder. Approximately 30% of the sculpture was recovered.
Some 300 sculptures and drawings by Rodin, part of the Cantor Fitzgerald collection.
Needle Tower (1968) by Kenneth Snelson.
Recollection Pond, a tapestry by Romare Bearden.
Path Mural, by Germaine Keller.
Commuter Landscape, a large mural by Cynthia Mailman.
Fan Dancing with the Birds, a mural by Hunt Slonem.
The Entablature Series by Roy Lichtenstein

[edit] Works destroyed in the Momart fire

Hundreds of Britart movement works in the Saatchi collection were destroyed in the Momart warehouse fire in Leyton, East London, on May 24, 2004.

Vertical Light by Patrick Heron (1957), and some 50 other paintings
Altair by Gillian Ayres (1989), and 17 other paintings
Craigie Horsfield's black and white photograph of Barcelona, Carrer Muntaner (1996)
"Hell" by Jake and Dinos Chapman, (1998 to 2000)
"The Last Thing I Said To You Is Don't Leave Me Here", "The Last Thing I Said Is Don't Leave Me Here" and "The Hut" by Tracey Emin (1999)
"Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995" by Tracey Emin
Mood Change One by Michael Craig-Martin
"The Event" by William Redgrave, a bronze triptych; about a third was salvaged by his son, Chris Redgrave.
"Down Below," a sculpture by Sarah Lucas
Hedone's, a painting by Patrick Caulfield
Floater, by Gavin Turk
Sixteen paintings by Damien Hirst
Cyclops Cameo (1995), Opal (1996), and eight other works by Helen Chadwick
Nine works by Barry Flanagan
"Clown," a gloss painting on wood and other works by Gary Hume
Afrobluff, and other works by Chris Ofili
Works by Paula Rego
Forty works by Adrian Heath