Art destruction

Art destruction involves the damaging or destruction of works of art. This can happen through a natural process, an accident, or deliberate human involvement.

Natural destruction

All physical works of art are slowly affected and degraded by the natural elements. Some may survive long enough to allow the slow processes of erosion to act on them. Works of art may also be destroyed by natural disasters.

* The Great Sphinx of Giza is slowly eroding. Most experts believe it is a natural process, but some believe acid rain is accelerating the process.

* It is estimated that tens of thousands of works of Japanese art dating as far back as the 13th century were destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake and the ensuing firestorm that destroyed much of central Tokyo.

* 1,400 artworks were damaged beyond repair in the November 4, 1966 floods that devastated Florence, Italy, including Cimabue's "The Crucifixion".

Accidental destruction

Many works of art have been damaged or destroyed by accident.

* On September 2, 1998, Swissair Flight 111 crashed near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, killing 225 people. Pablo Picasso's 1963 work "Le Peintre" (The Painter) had been loaded on the flight as cargo and was also destroyed.

* In May 2004 a fire destroyed the Momart warehouse in East London which destroyed more than 50 works by abstract painter Patrick Heron and works by other artists. [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/27/1085641648774.html?from=storyrhs]

Intentional destruction of a work of art designed to be destroyed

Many works of visual art are intended by the artist to be temporary. They may be created in media which the artist knows to be temporary, such as sand, or they may be designed specifically to be destroyed. Often the destruction takes place during a ceremony or special event highlighting the destruction. Examples of this type of art include:

* Street painting
* Sand mandala
* Ice sculpture
* Sand castles

Festivals where artwork is destroyed:

* The week-long "Burning Man" festival in the desert of Nevada, USA. With tens of thousands of participants who must pay a fee to attend, an entire city of art and self-expression is created.

* The "Semana Santa" (Easter week) festival in Antigua, Guatemala, where designs made out of flowers and colored sawdust are created in the street prior to being trampled by a religious parade.

* The burning of Zozobra during Fiestas de Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New Mexico, usually during the second week of September.

Intentional destruction of a work of art not designed to be destroyed

Other works of art may be destroyed without the consent of the original artist or of the local community. In other instances, works of art may destroyed by a local authority against the wishes of the outside community. Examples of this include the removal of Diego Rivera's "Man at the Crossroads" mural from the Rockefeller Center and the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan statues by the Taliban government.

* Nazi Germany destroyed works of art they labeled degenerate art. These were often non-photorealistic forms of art such as cubism and surrealism. Art created by Jewish artists was also destroyed.

* Tens of thousands of works of art were destroyed in military actions in the Second World War. One of the best-known examples in Europe is Courbet's "The Stonebreakers", which was destroyed in Dresden in 1945 during the Allied bombings. Other works of art were destroyed in the Blitz, in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and throughout Southeast Asia.

* Artworks destroyed in the September 11 attacks in the United States included a painted wood relief by Louise Nevelson, a painting from Roy Lichtenstein's Entablature series and a Joan Miro tapestry. The total value of artwork lost in the September 11 attacks is said to have been in excess of $100 million. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/1581737.stm]

ee also

*Art intervention