Artists Who Tried To Destroy Their Own Art

Regardless of beauty and power, art is created by humans. Sometimes it’s difficult to remember that famous artists experience self-esteem issues and self-doubt like the rest of us, questioning whether or not what they’re doing is worth it. Even the most iconic creators have had days when they just thought: screw it, I’m terrible.

But there’s a big difference between thinking something you’ve created is lacklustre and actually trying to destroy it. What compels certain artists not just to discard a project, but to want to wipe it off the face of the Earth? Is it anxiety? Fear of rejection?

Imagine if Charles Dickens had decided he wasn’t pleased with Oliver Twist and burned the manuscript, or if Leonardo Da Vinci thought the Mona Lisa wasn’t good enough and used the canvas to paint something else.

Nowadays, much art is created digitally – it can be destroyed with the emptying of a recycling bin – and there isn’t much room for last minute retrieval. The inherent physicality of art before computers meant that there were several amazingly fortunate saves.