tate gallery lost art

The Gallery of Lost Art by Tate

Be sure to get a good look at these wonders of art because it may be the last time you will ever see them.  Part of a new digital exhibition curated by Tate, The Gallery of Lost Art tells the tales of how rare works by Francis Bacon, Tracey Emin, Willem de Kooning, Christo & Jeanne-Claude and others have achieved immortal status, in light of their ephemeral and short-lived existence. 

Gorilla With Microphones as discovered in Francis Bacon’s studio

“Loss has shaped our sense of art’s history in ways that we are not often aware of,” says Jennifer Mundy, curator of the immersive exhibition.  Illustrating how artwork can fall victim to fate–from theft to fire to war to bad luck–viewers of the virtual exhibition can discover the records explaining what led to disappearance of these major works of art.

Francis Bacon, Study For Man With Microphones, 1946

Furthermore, the intervention of the digital realm in bringing these lost artworks back to life has an interesting twist of its own: the site itself will disappear in less than a years time.  Viewers can check back for new work trickling into the site, and follow updates on Facebook and Twitter.  This site has been created by ISO, one of the UK’s leading creative studios specializing in digital cultural project across TV, online, and installation.

Employees of Dublin’s Hugh Lane Gallery inspect the Francis Bacon studio materials, 1998

“The Gallery of Lost Art is a ghost museum, a place of shadows and traces. It could only ever exist virtually. The challenge was to come up with a way of showcasing these artworks and telling their stories. The result is a new way of looking at art: an immersive website in the form of a vast warehouse, where visitors can explore the evidence laid out for them. – Jane Burton, Head of Content and Creative Director, Tate Media

Robert Rauschenberg, Erased de Kooning Drawing, 1953

Tracey Emin, Everyone I Have Ever Slept With, 1963-1995

Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, 1952

Henry Moore with Reclining Figure in 1970

Check out more lost art at www.galleryoflostart.com

thanks to project partners The Brooklyn Brothers for the tip!




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