# When the Dadaists said to destroy art, this isn't what they meant! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 17, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dadaists-said-to-destroy-art-this-isnt-what-they-meant/109590 "2002-05-17T18:01:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dadaists-said-to-destroy-art-this-isnt-what-they-meant/109590/1 "2002-05-17T18:01:21Z")
From [CNN](http://europe.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/05/17/art.theft/index.html): > [@](#): > > STRASBOURG, France – Investigators fear part of a $1.4 billion collection of alleged stolen artwork has been destroyed by the suspect’s mother. > > Mireille Breitwieser 51, is being held for questioning by Swiss police after paintings were found cut to shreds in the suspect’s bedroom, Pascal Schultz, a prosecutor in the eastern city of Strasbourg, said > \ > Among works suspected of being destroyed were a red chalk drawing by Watteau “Les Deux Hommes,” stolen in 1999 from the Montpellier Museum; Boucher’s “Patre Endormi,” stolen in August 1996 from the Blois Museum, and Bruegel’s “La Fraud Profite a Son Maitre,” stolen in May 1997 in Anvers. Stealing from museums is atrocious enough, but to destroy irreplaceable works of art! Absolutely horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dadaists-said-to-destroy-art-this-isnt-what-they-meant/109590/2 "2002-05-17T21:42:55Z")
Yeah. I mean, moms have been throwing out their kids’ baseball and Magic cards for years, but this is a little extreme. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dadaists-said-to-destroy-art-this-isnt-what-they-meant/109590/3 "2002-05-17T21:46:46Z")
the . . . horror . . . ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dadaists-said-to-destroy-art-this-isnt-what-they-meant/109590/4 "2002-05-17T21:51:16Z")
Sorry, that would be me. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dadaists-said-to-destroy-art-this-isnt-what-they-meant/109590/5 "2002-05-18T13:21:22Z")
The fucking bitch put canvases through the damn waste disposal and dumped artefacts in the canal. [BBC link](http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/arts/newsid_1990000/1990836.stm) How utterly spiteful. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dadaists-said-to-destroy-art-this-isnt-what-they-meant/109590/6 "2002-05-18T14:14:00Z")
My sister sent me a link to an NYT article on this. I’m still in shock. I cannot fathom the severe dysfunction that would cause someone to destroy artwork valued in the billions like that, for whatever reason. The mind boggles. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dadaists-said-to-destroy-art-this-isnt-what-they-meant/109590/7 "2002-05-18T17:10:15Z")
Destroying art rips a ghaping hole in the collective soul of humanity that can never be filled. The stolen paintings, chinaware, and stauettes were a legacy from the past, ways of seeing the world that are now lost forever. ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dadaists-said-to-destroy-art-this-isnt-what-they-meant/109590/8 "2002-05-18T19:06:01Z")
Yeah, sure. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dadaists-said-to-destroy-art-this-isnt-what-they-meant/109590/9 "2002-05-18T19:41:51Z")
Oh…I think I’m going to be sick… ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dadaists-said-to-destroy-art-this-isnt-what-they-meant/109590/10 "2002-05-18T19:45:27Z")
:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Osbie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cdc98d/32.png) [@Osbie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osbie)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dadaists-said-to-destroy-art-this-isnt-what-they-meant/109590/11 "2002-05-18T22:48:29Z")
She’s a bitch and I hope her garbage disposal is _ruined!_