Artworks Damaged/Destroyed by Islamic Totalitarians: Various Works from the Mosul Museum

Location: Mosul Museum, Mosul, Iraq

Here are a variety of works recently damaged or destroyed by the Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq.  I am trying to find "before and after" images of the same works, but this is difficult as many of these works look similar and the Mosul Museum does not appear to have a website.  If you can offer help in this regard, please feel free to do so in the comments.  Additionally, many of these works have been damaged over the centuries, so I can't assume every imperfection was caused by ISIS.

Works Destroyed/Damaged by ISIS:

Unknown Print (of an Unknown Sculpture) by Unknown Artist

Nationality: French?


Another myserious work that I've had in my files for a long time.  I just like the fact that her chariot is pulled by squirrels!

Unknown Digital Image by Unknown Artist

Media: Digital 

I know nothing about this design but I think it's great.  If you know who made this, please tell me and I'll give them the credit they deserve.  The color choices here are great, it's well composed and the arrangements of the shapes in relation to each other are interesting as well.  It would be easy to dismiss this as a "mere cartoon" but this image shows more artistic skill than a lot of works in galleries and museums.  

Unknown Sculpture by Unknown Artist

Media: Stone? (Marble?) 


I know nothing about this amazing sculpture but I have had this photograph in my files for years because I love it so much.

Seven Paintings by Suzanne Eisendieck

Nationality: German

Born-Died: 1908-1998

Eisendieck is an artist that most people have never heard of and a great many people will not like.  I like some of them.  I just discovered her name and work very recently despite the fact that I had the first painting here in my “Unknown Artist” file for many years.   I kept it until I could properly identify it because I thought it had something interesting to it.  I was shocked to discover that she died in the 1990's, and not in the 1920's.

For the most part I appreciate her unique approach to impressionism—it seems to me like she used the impressionist method for expressive ends, not merely for the sake of “capturing the transient nature of light” or something like that, which is artistically pointless.  However, her approach seems like merely a good start.  I think a superior artist could have taken her style and developed it into something that was much more compelling.

Despite all this, her work seems to have elements that many young artists would want to adapt and I am surprised that more contemporary art students don’t admire her work.

The first two paintings here are the ones I like best.

Unknown Egyptian Sculpture of a Woman

Nationality: Egyptian

Media: Ivory (?)

Location: The Louvre, Paris, France

Unknown Painting by Unknown Artist

Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The National Gallery, Washington D.C., USA

I took a picture of this quirky portrait when I was in Washington DC a few years ago and unfortunately I didn't take note of the artist. I absolutely love her facial expression. Apologies for the blurriness.

Unknown Work by George Barbier

Nationality: French
Born/Died: 1882-1932
Media: Watercolor?

Unknown Sculpture by Unknown Scottish Artist

Nationality: Scottish
Size: 88 in. (224 cm)
Media: Sandstone
Location: Edinburgh, UK

I saw this nice example of architectural decoration while walking around Edinburgh. It's made of the red sandstone that is used all over Edinburgh, and unfortunately that type of stone doesn't seem to hold up too well. Any fine detail work this piece may have had is obviously long gone. The torso is nicely sculpted but the hands are awkward, so maybe it did not have much detail to loose. Although I don't always like this kind of decorative choice, being from a country where representational architectural decorations are rare I though it was interesting to see.

Unknown Bust by Unknown Scottish Artist

Nationality: Scottish

Media: stone
Location: The National Portrait Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK

I took this photo on my first trip to Edinburgh.



I would like to take a moment to point out some minor annoyances I have with the website for the National Galleries of Scotland. Since I lived in Edinburgh for two years I have grappled with this website a great deal and I have never had a chance to communicate these little irritations.

Statuette by Unknown Artist

Media: Bronze
Location: National Gallery of Art (?), Washington, D.C., USA

Nice little sculpture.

Cat Sculpture by Unknown Egyptian Artist

Nationality: Egyptian

Media: Stone
Location: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Unknown Print by Unknown Artist

Media: Etching Ink on Paper



I saw this nice Ex Libris print for sale on eBay, but other than that I know nothing about it. I can't quite make out the signature unfortunately.

Unknown Portrait by Thomas Sully

Nationality: English
Born/Died: 1783-1872

Location: Private Collection

This is an image of a Thomas Sully painting that I saw being sold at an online auction for a very low price. Since Sully is still a relatively famous artist the low price might seem strange...until you see the painting. This painting is in absolutely awful condition. I think it is interesting to see a work that was probably very expensive and cherished at one time only to be abandoned in an attic or basement for a couple hundred years.


This second image has been digitally manipulated by me.

Unknown Roman Sculptor

Nationality: Roman

Media: Stone
Location: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA



Photo by me.

Unknown Work by Richard Treaster

Nationality: American

Richard Treaster was an artist from the Cleveland area but few people that I know there know his work. Apparently he enjoyed a long, successful career and was so successful he was able to leave his day-job teaching at the Cleveland Institute of Art--a feat repeated by few there. I have only seen a few of his watercolors in person and I assume most of them are in private collections, but the few that I have seen were very nice. I think his critics say he was "too commercial" but since that criticism is completely irrational I simply dismiss it outright.

Ironically, after college I had the good fortune to be friends and roommates with Treaster's grandson for many years and I could see right away that my friend's mom had been painted in several portraits.

Bust by Unknown Roman Sculptor

Nationality: Roman
Creation Date: 1870
Media: Marble?

I don't know anything about this Roman bust but it is one of my favorite depictions of the male figure.

Unknown Painting by Peter Graham

Unknown Roman Artist: Marble head of an athlete

A Stele Sculpture by an Unknown Greek Artist

The tag for this fragment read "Marble head of a bearded man from a stele (a grave marker)" which is a "descriptive title." I mention it to give a little more information, but I don't want to give the impression that it is a title that the original sculptor gave the piece.