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Art Damaged

@art_damaged

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Research exploring the methods and meanings of art’s destruction.
Curated by @cdschreck
NEW PODCAST OUT NOW
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Exciting news! On September 11, I’ll be launching a limited podcast series that extends the coverage and conversations we share here on Instagram. ART DAMAGED is a podcast series exploring real-world cases in which artworks have been altered, defaced, damaged, or destroyed. Drawing on more than a decade of research, the series approaches these incidents not solely as curiosities or crimes, but also as moments that reveal how artworks move through the world - and how those paths reflect the cultural, political, and institutional forces that surround them. Across fifteen bi-weekly episodes, the series traces what might be understood as a “shadow history” of art: a longstanding but largely overlooked lineage of events that spans centuries, continents, and cultures - and is still unfolding today. Here’s the full list of episodes: Ep 1: Introduction Ep 2: Iconoclasm Ep 3: Politics Ep 4: Pure Vandalism Ep 5: Random Acts Ep 6: Accidental Damage Ep 7: States of Distress Ep 8: Destruction as Artistic Gesture Ep 9: When Artists Self-Destruct Ep 10: Digital Art Ep 11: Institutions as Setting and Catalyst Ep 12: Public Art Ep 13: Conservation/Restoration Ep 14: Repeat Targets and Serial Offenders Ep 15: Epilogue More details to come! by @art_damaged
40
a month ago
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Was it a lack of adult supervision, or a lack of institutional oversight? #artdamaged #vandalism #vandalismo #artvandalism #arthistory #christopherschreck #contemporaryart #arte #artdealer #artcollector #artistsoninstagram #artphotography #modernart #artwork #artoftheday #artgallery #artmuseum #artconservation #artconservators #artconservator #artrestoration #artrestorer #contemporaryartist #artdealers #contemporarypainting #contemporarysculpture #arthistorynerd #whenkidsattack #artmeme #artcurator taken in Overland Park Ks City Tomahawk Ridge Community Center by @art_damaged
1k
3 years ago
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Conceptual artist cremates his own paintings #artdamaged #vandalism #vandalismo #artvandalism #arthistory #christopherschreck #contemporaryart #arte #artdealer #artcollector #artistsoninstagram #artphotography #modernart #artwork #artoftheday #artgallery #artmuseum #artconservation #artconservators #artconservator #artrestoration #artrestorer #contemporaryartist #artdealers #contemporarypainting #contemporarysculpture #arthistorynerd #baldessari #johnbaldessari #artist taken in San Diego, California by @art_damaged
52
3 years ago
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A very interesting exhibition is currently on view at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence: “Broken: The Power of the Fragment” brings together more than 80 fractured works spanning 4,500 years in the hopes of celebrating “the evocative power of the fragment in the history of sculpture, from archaeology to contemporary art.” Organized with the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the show looks at the fragment not simply as a remnant, but rather as an object whose breakage can reveal new histories and meanings. Some works were damaged through war, political upheaval, and acts of iconoclasm, some through vandalism or natural disaster, while others were deliberately made as fragments, confirming artists’ longstanding fascination with the incomplete. Among the most notable pieces are the “Nose and Lips of Akhenaten,” separated from an Egyptian sculpture made around 1350 BCE; the surviving leg of a bronze equestrian monument toppled in ancient Athens; a bust of Mussolini shot through the forehead by Italian partisans in 1945; and a 14th-century sculpture of Christ damaged in the 1966 Florence flood. Alongside ancient and historical objects, works by the likes of Michelangelo and Rodin are joined by contemporary artists including Louise Bourgeois, Huma Bhabha, Robert Gober, Francesco Vezzoli and Danh Vo. Taken together, the works invite us to consider “the fragment from a new perspective: not simply as the remnant of a lost whole, but as an autonomous object, capable of preserving traces of memory and transformation,” as well as “the artistic, political and symbolic value that a sculpture acquires following its breakage, and the ability of the fragment to become an instrument of knowledge and imagination.” The exhibition will run in Florence through January 24, 2027, before traveling to the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., where it will be on view in an updated form from March 13 to June 27. taken in Palazzo Strozzi, Firenze by @art_damaged
4
2 days ago
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Mark Rothko “Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8” / child In April 2025, this 1960 oil painting was damaged while on view at the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam when a child ran their fingers across the lower left portion of the canvas, leaving visible scratches in the paint layer. Following the incident, restoration efforts were undertaken in the conservation studio in the museum’s Depot, with the process largely visible to visitors. The restoration was noteworthy on a few levels: First, microscopic and chemical analysis revealed that Rothko had mixed his own paint using very little binder, producing an extremely matte (and extremely fragile) surface - so, to repair the damage, conservators developed a unique, fully reversible paint that approximated the appearance of Rothko’s original treatment without putting additional stress on the surface. Along the way, they were assisted by Rothko’s son, Christopher, who provided a rare piece of canvas from his father’s studio, which allowed conservators to test their techniques before applying them to the artwork itself. The painting was returned to full public display less than a year after the incident. taken in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen by @art_damaged
8
7 days ago
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Our third podcast episode, “Politics,” is out today! For centuries, people have attacked works of art to draw attention to broader causes, ideological convictions, and personal grievances that extend beyond the objects themselves. So in this episode, we’ll be looking at individuals and collectives who have slashed canvases, set fires, toppled sculptures, and hurled soup at objects of cultural heritage - not necessarily because of what those works depict or symbolize, but because in attacking them, one might command an audience, generate outrage and, most importantly, translate a political message into public view. Following a throughline from the suffragettes to today’s climate activists, we’ll explore how this strategy has been adopted and adapted over time - and, in doing so, we’ll consider what’s made art such a frequent and effective vehicle for dissent. Available wherever you get your podcasts - or just click the link in bio, where you can also check out the episode’s digital zine. Thanks for listening! by @art_damaged
0
10 days ago
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Multiple canvases by Francis Bacon / slashed by artist Following his death in 1992, Francis Bacon’s infamously chaotic studio at 7 Reece Mews, Kensington, was catalogued by archaeologists and conservators who mapped, logged, and relocated over 7,000 items from the cramped space. Discovered among the debris were nearly 100 canvases slashed by the artist himself. Portraits with faces cut out were piled on the floor, while larger slashed works were stacked against the walls. The pieces spanned over five decades, with the earliest dating back to the mid-1940s. Destroying his own work, it seems, had been a normal part of Bacon’s practice. He found it difficult to stop working on his paintings and was known to revisit and revise works almost compulsively, with many becoming so clogged with pigment that they had to be discarded. He also routinely destroyed works that didn’t meet his standards - although, per his own admission, he also extended this treatment to some of his own favorite pieces: “I think I tend to destroy the better paintings, or those that have been better to a certain extent,” he once said. “I try and take them further, and they lose their qualities, and they lose everything. I think I would say that I tend to destroy all the better paintings.” The approach became so systematic that Bacon’s gallerists would rush to obtain new works as quickly as possible, just in case the artist wound up having second thoughts. In some cases, he lacerated canvases before the paint was even dry; in others, he was assisted in these acts by his companion John Edwards, who recalled that Bacon asked him to slash certain pieces into small shreds with a stanley knife, as followers of Bacon’s work had taken to stealing discarded portions from the garbage cans outside his studio. Interestingly, in the years following his death, some of these destroyed canvases have actually gone to auction, with houses like Sotheby’s selling the works in their wounded state. #artdamaged taken in 7 Reece Mews by @art_damaged
18
22 days ago
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The ART DAMAGED podcast is live! There are two episodes now available: (a) a brief introduction, laying out the project’s premise, history, and overarching themes, and (b) our first full-length episode, which explores the subject of iconoclasm. Iconoclasm is a practice nearly as old as art itself, centered on the targeted destruction of images, including (but not limited to) public monuments and religious or political works of art. This is damage inflicted with purpose, where what’s being attacked isn’t just the image or object itself, but also what it represents culturally. So in this episode, we trace the long (and ongoing) history of iconoclasm, from ancient Egypt to the modern avant-garde and contemporary social movements, and consider what it might teach us about art’s role in shaping authority, collective memory, and cultural change. Available wherever you listen to podcasts - links in bio ⬆️ Note: Like all of our upcoming full-length episodes, this discussion on iconoclasm is accompanied by a digital zine, which offers visuals and further details on some of the cases covered in the episode (as well as others that weren’t). The PDF is free for download via link in bio. Thanks for listening! by @art_damaged
4
24 days ago
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Ai Wei-Wei “Three Perfectly Proportioned Spheres and Military Camouflage Painted White” (2025)/ missiles In July 2026, this large-scale multimedia work was destroyed by Russian missiles while being stored in a warehouse in Bucha, a city in Ukraine’s Kyiv Oblast. Commissioned by RIBBON International as a temporary site-specific piece, the installation took eight months to plan and produce before making its public debut on September 14, 2025, at the Pavilion of Culture in Kyiv. It remained on view through its scheduled closing on November 30, after which it was deinstalled and transported to a large commercial logistics facility, where it was expected to remain while plans for future exhibitions in Ukraine and abroad were finalized. Instead, on July 19, the work was destroyed during a large-scale Russian ballistic missile attack. In response, Ai Weiwei announced the work’s loss on social media, noting that because it was an piece born out of the region’s ongoing conflict, its sudden devastation by the war “brought things full circle.” #artdamaged taken in Bucha, Kiev Oblast by @art_damaged
0
a month ago
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The Art Damaged podcast is a week away! Ahead of the launch, I’ve set up a newsletter as a space to expand on the cases and themes explored in each episode: artdamagedproject.substack.com Visibility here on Instagram isn’t too reliable, so for anyone who’s interested in the podcast and wants to stay up to speed, this seemed like the best way to do it. The content will be free and updates will be delivered directly to your inbox (no Substack account required), so subscribe via the link in bio for timely announcements, supplemental materials, and details on stories we weren’t able to cover on the pod. Also, just to clarify: I’m going to continue posting here on Instagram as I always have - so if you’re not interested in the podcast but still want the usual posts, no action needed. Looking forward to next week! by @art_damaged
1
a month ago
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Yayoi Kusama “Pumpkin” (1994) / typhoon In August 2021, Typhoon Lupit struck the island of Naoshima, Japan, where the artist Yayoi Kusama had installed a large-scale fiberglass pumpkin on a pier. Typically, administrators at Benesse Art Site Naoshima would have moved the sculpture to an indoor shelter before a major storm, but the typhoon’s rapid intensification gave workers no time to react. The 6.5-foot-piece was dislodged from its base and sent crashing into the Seto Inland Sea, where it was battered by the waves before eventually washing up on shore. The work was able to be restored and reinstalled at the same site in October 2022 - but this time, with enhanced precautions to protect against future bad weather. #artdamaged taken in Benesse Art Site Naoshima　ベネッセアートサイト直島 by @art_damaged
170
a month ago
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Josef Klimeš “Rovnováha” / Governmental neglect In July 2026, this outdoor sculpture collapsed while installed beside Prague’s Barrandov Bridge. Commissioned in 1988, the monumental concrete artwork, popularly known as “The Conqueror Worm,” actually took its form from the geographical profile of the Vltava riverbed, which Klimeš turned into a three-dimensional graphic symbol. It was considered one of the defining works of public art in Prague - but after nearly forty years, the piece had deteriorated to the point that it physically fell apart, sending tons of debris onto the roads and pathways below. (There were no reported injuries.) In terms of causes, experts cited a number of potential factors, from insufficient municipal management to the effects of weather and climate change - but as it turns out, city officials had long been aware of the sculpture’s poor condition and had actually planned to discuss a proposal for the work’s controlled demolition and replacement the following week - but the piece fell apart before that meeting could take place. In the wake of this incident, the city allocated CZK 13 million to recreate the work, using original project documentation as well as a detailed 3D scan of the sculpture that was carried out in the months leading up to its collapse. #artdamaged taken in Prague, Czech Republic by @art_damaged
3
2 months ago
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