LOST ART

The Gallery of Lost Art was an immersive, online exhibition that told the stories of artworks that had disappeared. Destroyed, stolen, discarded, rejected, erased, ephemeral – some of the most significant artworks of the last 100 years have been lost and can no longer be seen.

Curated by Tate, designed by ISO and produced in partnership with Channel 4, with additional support from the The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC),
the virtual year-long exhibition explored the sometimes extraordinary and sometimes banal circumstances behind the loss of major works of art. Archival images, films, interviews, blogs and essays were laid out for visitors
to examine, revealing the evidence relating to the loss of works by over 40 artists across the twentieth century, including such figures as Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Willem De Kooning, Rachel Whiteread and
Tracey Emin.

To accompany the archive elements and bespoke films around each artist & artwork featured Jennifer Mundy (Head of Collection, Tate) produced a series of in-depth essays for each table.

Tate Media produced a series of bespoke films around the artists and themes covered in the Gallery of Lost Art.

The project generated over 900 features across print and online media – here are some of the selected mentions

The Gallery of Lost art has been recognised by a wide range of organisations and awards for its unique design and innovation in interactivity. The global reach of the project has seen it winning at Austin’s SXSW Interactive Awards to screening at Amsterdam’s International Documentary Film Festival as well as collecting a number of UK design and museum exhibition awards.

Based on the online exhibition, this book explores the cultural significance of loss and how loss has silently shaped art history.

This wide-ranging and thought-provoking survey
explores the different ways in which artworks are lost.
It tells the intriguing and often moving stories behind the disappearance of over forty artworks, ranging from Jacob Epstein’s 1908 sculptures for the British Medical Association Building to Michael Landy’s 2001 project Break Down, where over a period of two weeks the artist destroyed every one of his possessions. Other featured artists include Francis Bacon, John Baldessari, Joseph Beuys, Marcel Duchamp, Frida Kahlo, Wassily Kandinsky, Willem de Kooning, Joan Miró and Rachel Whiteread.

Lost Art: Missing Artworks of the Twentieth Century

Jennifer Mundy
Tate Publishing

The book is available to buy at all the TATE Galleries
or you can Buy online

ISBN 9781849761406
£19.99
234 x 156mm
70 colour illustrations

Book Design
The Studio of Williamson Curran