The creative process is one that often requires a great deal of dedication, sacrifice, and hard work. Whether it is the time and effort it takes to perfect a painting or the years spent pouring one's heart and soul into a novel, creating art is a labour of love that can be both exhilarating and exhausting. But what happens when artists and writers reach a point where they no longer want their work to exist? Read on to find out about some renowned artists and literary icons who destroyed their work or tasked someone else to eliminate it for them.
Claude Monet
Oscar Claude Monet or Claude Monet was a French painter and a leading figure in the impressionist art movement. He was renowned for his innovative approach to capturing light colour, and atmosphere in his paintings. The characteristics of the paintings associated with this 19th-Century modern art movement include small, visible brushstrokes that offer the bare impression of form, unblended colour, and an emphasis on the accurate depiction of natural light.
Monet was known for his perfectionism and dedication to his craft. However, there were instances where his pursuit of excellence led him to destroy his paintings. One such incident occurred in 1908, just before a planned exhibition in Paris, where Monet destroyed at least 15 large paintings of his water garden series. He felt that the works were not up to his standards and took a knife and paintbrush to them.
This was not the only time Monet destroyed his paintings. As he approached the end of his life, he took the help of his stepdaughter to dispose of up to 60 canvases that he did not want to represent his legacy. Additionally, after undergoing cataract surgery, Monet disposed of or reworked many of the paintings he created during his vision loss. His friend and former French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau told a journalist in 1927. "Monet would attack his canvases when he was angry. And his anger was born of a dissatisfaction with his work Monet destroyed canvases in his quest for perfection."
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, a towering figure in 20th-Century art, fearlessly challenged conventions and pushed the boundaries of acceptability with his influential works. His art often delved into religious imagery and confronted viewers with unsettling and thought-provoking compositions. In 1944, Bacon decided to destroy numerous early works, as he believed they failed to convey his worldview. This marked the beginning of a recurring theme of destruction in Bacon's artistic journey.
It is noteworthy that as Bacon matured, he did express some remorse for the loss of certain works that he later recognised held merit. When Bacon passed away in 1992, his studio revealed a trove of over 100 ruined works of art, serving as a testament to his unyielding pursuit of artistic excellence.
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka, the renowned German-speaking Bohemian writer, who called Prague his home, is celebrated for his influential novella Metamorphosis. Despite his immense literary contributions, Kafka lived a life plagued by the burden of self-doubt, never quite convinced of his worth as an author. He even went so far as to burn a significant portion of his writing.
While Kafka's shorter works received modest critical acclaim during his lifetime, he remained largely unrecognised as a literary figure of any merit. As his health began to fail, he entrusted his good friend and literary executor, Max Brod, with the task of destroying any unfinished manuscripts upon his death, unread.
Following the author’s demise from tuberculosis at the age of 40 in 1924l, his loyal friend Max Brod faced a difficult decision. Despite Kafka's explicit instructions to destroy his manuscripts, Brod defied the author's wishes and went on to share Kafka's work with the world. He was responsible for publishing some of the author’s most influential works, including The Trial (1925). The Castle (1926), and Amerika (1927).
In 1939, Brod fled from the grip of Nazi-controlled Prague and sought refuge in Israel. There, he made a pivotal decision to entrust approximately two-thirds of Kafka's invaluable papers to the renowned Bodleian Library in Oxford. The remaining collection found its way into the hands of Brod's secretary, Esther Hoffe, who subsequently passed it down to her daughters.
However, the journey of Kafka's papers did not end there. The National Library of Israel emerged as a passionate contender, vying for ownership of Kafka's literary works for the nation. Finally, in 2015, a Tel Aviv court ruled in favour of the National Library of Israel, granting them the rights to the remaining papers-a boon for scholars devoted to studying Kafka's literary genius.
Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson, an extraordinary and original American poet, stands among the greatest literary figures of all time. Much like renowned English novelist Charlotte Bronte and poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, she deftly crafted a fresh and distinct persona through her first-person narratives. In Dickinson's poetry, just as in the works of Bronte and Browning, the speakers keenly observe the limitations of their societies while envisioning both real and imagined means of escape. mere 10 of
During her lifetime, a mere 10 of Dickinson's poems found their way into newspapers, all published anonymously and likely without her knowledge. Although she was very private person, the poet freely shared her poems with close friends and family.
Following Dickinson's passing in 1886, her younger sister Lavinia discovered a remarkable treasure trove in her bedroom-a collection of hand-sewn books containing nearly 1,800 poems. Interestingly, the poet had expressed a desire for all her manuscripts to be destroyed after her death. From her poem Publication is the Auction, one can infer her deep aversion to the idea of seeking publicity, fame, or any form of attention for her work. Fortunately, Dickinson's family intervened, recognising the immense value of her poetic legacy, and compiled her poems into books, ensuring that her profound words would reach the world.
James Joyce
James Joyce, the brilliant Irish poet, novelist, and literary critic, is known for his daring experimentation with language and unique writing style. Despite his undeniable talent, the sting of rejection from publishers was a bitter pill to swallow. Having been turned down by over 20 publishers, the disheartened author deemed his autobiographical novel, Stephen Hero, as utterly worthless and decided to toss it into the fire.
However fate intervened in the form of Joyce's wife, Nora, and his devoted sister, who risked their limbs to save what they could from the flames. They emerged with several unburnt fragments, which would go on to form the backbone of Joyce's next novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. This masterpiece remains a timeless bildungsromans or coming-of-age story and is considered to be one of the most significant texts in the history of literature.
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