--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All art of the past must be destroyed." description: "\"All art of the past must be destroyed.\" — Pierre Boulez" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/pierre-boulez-30980_art_all-art-of-the-past-must-be-destroyed-15_1517526.jpg" --- # All art of the past must be destroyed. ![“All art of the past must be destroyed.” quote by Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/pierre-boulez-30980_art_all-art-of-the-past-must-be-destroyed-15_1517526.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/pierre-boulez-30980_art_all-art-of-the-past-must-be-destroyed-15_1517526.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/pierre-boulez-30980_art_all-art-of-the-past-must-be-destroyed-15_1517526.jpg) > “All art of the past must be destroyed.” [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Past artistic works must be destroyed to make way for new creation. **In simple terms:** Eliminate old art to foster innovation. Key Takeaway Clear the old to enable the new. Themes art innovation destruction Mood controversial provocative Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - museum curation - artistic reinvention - creative workshops Key Concepts creative renewal cultural evolution avant‑garde Questions to Reflect On - Is destroying past art ever justified? - How can we balance preservation with innovation? A Different Perspective Destruction can erase valuable heritage. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [We all of us live upon the past, and through the past we are destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-all-of-us-live-upon-the-past-and-through-the-past-we-are-destroyed/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [It is not enough to deface the Mona Lisa because that does not kill the Mona Lisa. 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Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Byron—they’ll exist only in Newspeak versions,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-whole-literature-of-the-past-will-have-been-destroyed-chaucer/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“During the wars of the Empire while husbands and brothers were in Germany, anxious mothers gave birth to an ardent, pale, and neurotic generation,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-downie/during-the-wars-of-the-empire-while-husbands-and-brothers-were-in-2/) David Downie > [“Bad memories of the past cannot be destroyed by tearing or burning photographs; 'understanding' what happened in the past is the cleverest way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/bad-memories-of-the-past-cannot-be-destroyed-by-tearing-or-burning/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Creative work bridges time because the energy of art is not time-bound. If it were we should have no interest in the art of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/creative-work-bridges-time-because-the-energy-of-art-is-not-time/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [Remember, how often the great art of the past didn't look great at first, how often it didn't look like art at all; how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/remember-how-often-the-great-art-of-the-past-didn-t-look-great-at/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [The great art of the past became great because it started to go out of the perimeters that defined art and defined new territories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludovico-einaudi/the-great-art-of-the-past-became-great-because-it-started-to-go-out/) [Ludovico Einaudi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludovico-einaudi/) > [art is the most general condition of the Past in the present. ... Perhaps no work of art is art. It can only become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/art-is-the-most-general-condition-of-the-past-in-the-present-perhaps/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Art is a way you discover the past, and so it brings the past into the present and the future. That's why we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-steir/art-is-a-way-you-discover-the-past-and-so-it-brings-the-past-into-the/) [Pat Steir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-steir/) > [We take from the art of the past what we need. The variable posthumous reputations of even the greatest artists and the unpredictable revivals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/we-take-from-the-art-of-the-past-what-we-need-the-variable-posthumous/) [Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/) > [“To me there is no past or future in art. If a work of art cannot live always in the present it must not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-me-there-is-no-past-or-future-in-art-if-a-work-of-art-cannot-live/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The internationalization of art becomes a factor contributing to the estrangement of art from the artist. The sum of works of all times and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-rosenberg/the-internationalization-of-art-becomes-a-factor-contributing-to-the/) [Harold Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-rosenberg/) > [I'm happy that the evolution of art in the past 25 years, and the place of art in global culture-and even finance-has gotten to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-shafrazi/i-m-happy-that-the-evolution-of-art-in-the-past-25-years-and-the/) [Tony Shafrazi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-shafrazi/) > [“Today we see the art of the past as nobody saw it before. We actually perceive it in a different way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/today-we-see-the-art-of-the-past-as-nobody-saw-it-before-we-actually/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) ## More by Pierre Boulez > [For me, curiosity is life. If you are not curious, you are in your coffin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/for-me-curiosity-is-life-if-you-are-not-curious-you-are-in-your-coffin/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [The function of pop music is to be consumed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/the-function-of-pop-music-is-to-be-consumed/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [Music is a labyrinth with no beginning and no end, full of new paths to discover, where mystery remains eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/music-is-a-labyrinth-with-no-beginning-and-no-end-full-of-new-paths/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [We need to restore the spirit of irreverence in music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/we-need-to-restore-the-spirit-of-irreverence-in-music/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [The aim of music is not to express feelings but to express music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/the-aim-of-music-is-not-to-express-feelings-but-to-express-music/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [Any musician who has not experienced - I do not say understood, but truly experienced - the necessity of dodecaphonic music is USELESS. 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Because definitive, once-and-for-all developments seem no longer appropriate to musical thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/why-compose-works-that-have-to-be-re-created-every-time-they-are/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [More and more I find that in order to create effectively one has to consider delirium and, yes, organize it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/more-and-more-i-find-that-in-order-to-create-effectively-one-has-to/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [I suggested that it was not enough to add a moustache to the Mona Lisa: it should simply be destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/i-suggested-that-it-was-not-enough-to-add-a-moustache-to-the-mona/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [I shall be the first composer in history not to have a biography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/i-shall-be-the-first-composer-in-history-not-to-have-a-biography/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [It is not enough to deface the Mona Lisa because that does not kill the Mona Lisa. All art of the past must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/it-is-not-enough-to-deface-the-mona-lisa-because-that-does-not-kill/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [Creation exists only in the unforeseen made necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/creation-exists-only-in-the-unforeseen-made-necessary/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [Revolutions are celebrated when they are no longer dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/revolutions-are-celebrated-when-they-are-no-longer-dangerous/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [Music should be a collective magic and hysteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/music-should-be-a-collective-magic-and-hysteria/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [We have to fight the past to survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/we-have-to-fight-the-past-to-survive/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) [Explore all 17 Pierre Boulez quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. 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And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All art of the past must be destroyed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pierre Boulez" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/all-art-of-the-past-must-be-destroyed/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/all-art-of-the-past-must-be-destroyed/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/pierre-boulez-30980_art_all-art-of-the-past-must-be-destroyed-15_1517526.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/pierre-boulez-30980_art_all-art-of-the-past-must-be-destroyed-15_1517526.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/pierre-boulez-30980_art_all-art-of-the-past-must-be-destroyed-15_1517526.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All art of the past must be destroyed.” — Pierre Boulez", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Pierre Boulez", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "All art of the past must...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/all-art-of-the-past-must-be-destroyed/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/all-art-of-the-past-must-be-destroyed/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```