The Destruction of Art: Iconoclasm and Vandalism since the French Revolution

by Dario Gamboni

Last winter, a man tried to break Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain sculpture. The sculpted foot of Michelangelo’s David was damaged in 1991 by a purportedly mentally ill artist. With each incident, intellectuals must confront the unsettling dynamic between destruction and art.  Renowned art historian Dario Gamboni is the first to tackle this weighty issue in depth, exploring specters of censorship, iconoclasm, and vandalism that surround such acts. Gamboni uncovers here a disquieting phenomenon that still thrives today worldwide. As he demonstrates through analyses of incidents occurring in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America and Europe, a complex relationship exists among the evolution of modern art, destruction of artworks, and the long history of iconoclasm. From the controversial removal of Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc from New York City’s Federal Plaza to suffragette protests at London’s National Gallery, Gamboni probes the concept of artist’s rights, the power of political protest and how iconoclasm sheds light on society’s relationship to art and material culture. Compelling and thought-provoking, The Destruction of Art forces us to rethink the ways that we interact with art and react to its power to shock or subdue.

Genres: Art, History, Art History

416 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Alberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ensayo sobre la destrucción artística centrado especialmente en las décadas posteriores a la Guerra Fría. Destaca entre todos el capítulo dedicado a la conceptualización y terminología y el capítulo dedicado a la desintegración de la URSS y el desmoche de monumentos y lugares de memoria soviética. El autor es un especialista en arte contemporáneo y los capítulos dedicados a la destrucción del arte moderno también son reseñables. En definitiva, un muy buen libro sobre un tema que, de repente, ha vuelto a la actualidad.

[Matthew Osborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slavoj Žižek: Most of us think that we now live in totally atheist, post-ideological times, and cynically view the big 20th century movements like communism and fascism as totally failed and outdated. But it's exactly when we think we exist outside ideology that we are actually in it. It's inherent in the way that we construct our reality and stage our desires. And this is also reflected in cinema. In a consumerist capitalist society, you think you are free by being able to enjoy life and buy things like a Starbucks frappuccino, when actually, you are following an obscene and deep command to ”ENJOY.”

What's that got to do with The Destruction of Art? It's about ideology. What do we value? What offends us, and why does it make us feel that way?

I used to drive hundreds of miles to see art that I knew would piss me off. I was intrigued by my awareness that materials handing on a wall, or piled on the floor, would arouse such strong feelings in me - anger, disgust, desire to destroy. In the years since then, I much more rarely feel pissed off by art - now I think of it as art that challenges me.

But I was interested in how we are moved by art. When I see people behaving badly, I think "That's my species." I wanted to know more about why people destroy art. Clearly, I'm not the only person who could be pissed off by colors and shapes. How does that work?

This book helped me understand how that works, and elucidated many reasons behind the destruction of art. It helped me understand myself and my species. It helped me appreciate art more, and also understand it's destruction more.

The book is quite relevant today in the midst of the worldwide outrage over The Islamic State destroying ancient monuments and work art, and the simultaneous demand by many of those same people that art related to the Confederate States of America ought to be destroyed. It's not the destruction of art in itself that they object to - it's the choice of which art is to be destroyed that they demand.