8 Famous Artists Who Tried To Destroy Their Own Art

3. Michelangelo

If you don't know who Michelangelo is, you've at least seen his work - The Creation Of Adam (pictured above) is one of the most iconic pieces of art ever created, part of the fresco painting he did in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. And if you somehow missed that, he also produced arguably the most famous sculpture ever created, David. Over the course of a lifetime Michelangelo produced thousands of drawings and sketches, intricately planning his paintings and sculptures before carrying them out. Many of these drawings, however, did not survive - Michelangelo tossed most of them into the fire throughout his artistic career. But why? It's likely that Michelangelo was self-conscious about people seeing the extensive planning that went into his work. To Michelangelo, the art that was valuable was the "finished" piece, even if this meant destroying the many incredible sketches he produced that were beautiful in and of themselves.