Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, 1952

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye!

All good things must come to an end, and after a highly successful year, the Gallery of Lost Art is about to (sadly) disappear forever!

The Gallery of Lost Art is on-line site which showcases artworks that have been lost, stolen, discarded, rejected and destroyed. It explains how great works of art can fall victim to heists, fire, war, bad luck–even an artist deciding to destroy their own works. The virtual exhibition tells the stories of what led to the disappearance of these major pieces, some (like Christo’s “Wrapped Reichstag”) which were never intended to be permanent in the first place (like this digital exhibit).

Some of artists included in the ephemeral exhibition are Francis Bacon, Joseph Beuys, Frida Kahlo, Tracey Emin, Egon Schiele, Kurt Schwitters, Lucien Freud, Marcel Duchamp, Willem de Kooning, Rachel Whiteread, and Keith Haring among many others.

There is now just over one day until the site will cease to exist and all its exhibited artworks, information, and archive materials will simply disappear into the ether. Now is your last chance to visit the Gallery of Lost Art before it’s too late. The project was a collaboration between Tate Modern, Channel 4, and ISO Design, and has picked multiple awards from SXSW, Design Week, and the Museums and Heritage Innovation Award, as well as becoming a Webbys Honoree. The gallery has received over 100,000 visitors from more than 150 different countries.

Visit the site here.
 

Robert Rauschenberg, Erased de Kooning Drawing, 1953
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:

With thanks to Heidi Kuisma

 
It is strange to think that some the most important works of art from the past 100 years have been lost, erased, destroyed, stolen, censored, or allowed to rot, and can now no longer be seen.

The Gallery of Lost Art is a virtual exhibition that reconstructs the stories behind the disappearances of some of the world’s best known and influential works of art. It’s the biggest virtual exhibition of its kind, and is curated by Jennifer Mundy, and is produced by the Tate in association with Channel 4 television. The virtual Gallery has been beautifully designed by digital studio ISO, and the site will be kept live for 12 months, before it is lost.

Amongst those currently on exhibition at the Gallery of Lost Art are:

Lucian Freud Portrait of Francis Bacon (1952)

This small painting was stolen in at exhibition in Germany on May 27th, 1988. It is considered one of Freud’s best early works, and although there was a police investigation and a hefty reward (300,000DM) the portrait has never been recovered.
 

 
Tracey Emin: Everyone I have Ever Slept With 1963-1995

Made in 1995, when Tracey Emin was still relatively unknown, Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995 is a tent covered with the names of all the people Emin had slept with, including lovers, friends, family members and foetus 1, foetus 2. Inspired by an exhibition of Tibetan nomadic culture, which included examples of their tents, which are used by Tibetan monks for meditation, Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995 made Emin an over-night sensation and one of the most controversial artists working in Britain at that time. The work was bought by Charles Saatchi, who kept it (along with hundreds of other art works), in a warehouse in London’s east end. In 2004, a fire destroyed this warehouse and most of Saatchi’s collection - including 40 paintings by Patrick Heron.

The Gallery of Lost Art - see the exhibition here, before it is gone.
 
More Lost Art from Kahlo, Sutherland and Duchamp, after the jump…