Why is an artwork left unfinished?

Lavender Au | Christies.com | 23rd June 2015

With a few notable exceptions musical and literary compositions are generally regarded as being of little value unless completely finished. Art can be different.  Incomplete figurative paintings can often convey the artist’s thinking and the same sometimes applies to abstract art. An exhibition at London’s Courtauld focuses on unfinished works to illustrate the creative process. Mulling over the same show, Marion Coutts observes “death is the great unfinisher”.