10 Pieces of Art Inspired by a Broken Heart

Sometimes, when we see a painting or other piece of visual art that seems to depict heartbreak, we wonder if it is based on something that happened in real life—maybe to the artist. It is also natural to wonder about the person who inspired the artwork. Viewers may be especially curious about the story behind a painting if it evokes fresh feelings or memories of their own heartache.

The people who are the subjects or inspirations behind these works may be prominent individuals or someone the artist has discussed, while at other times, their identity remains a mystery—known only through the legacy they left behind, later reflected in the artist’s work. Here are 10 pieces of art inspired by a broken heart.

Related: Ten Amazing Artists Who Were Horrible Humans

10 The Two Fridas

There are multiple pieces of art that reflect the stormy relationship between the iconic Mexican painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, who were married from 1929 to 1939 and again from 1940 until Kahlo’s death in 1954. In addition to being a celebrated artist who was a pioneer of the mural movement, Rivera was a controversial figure and an infamous womanizer who had an affair with Kahlo’s own sister. While Frida Kahlo was also unfaithful, she was deeply hurt by Rivera’s behavior.

One of Kahlo’s most famous works is a self-portrait in oil done in the year of their 1939 divorce. The Two Fridas depicts two versions of herself, sitting on a bench together, holding hands. One Frida is dressed in a white high-collar European-style dress, while the other is wearing a colorful Tehuana-type dress. The clothing is probably a reference to her blended German and Mexican heritage but may also be symbolic of her conflicting attitudes toward Rivera. Both Fridas have exposed hearts, but the European woman’s heart is wounded.

The Tehuana Frida, who appears more content, is holding a small picture of Diego Rivera as a child. The European Frida holds a pair of surgical scissors, which she has used to sever a blood vessel connecting her to her twin, though one prominent blood vessel still links the two hearts. According to a Culture Frontier article, “The European Frida’s attempt to cut this lifeline highlights the inner turmoil and profound pain Kahlo experienced in the wake of her divorce.”^[1]

9 Ashes

Mental distress is a frequent theme in works by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, whose best-known piece is The Scream. Among his most personal and emotionally stirring paintings is Ashes (1894), which shows a couple in the forest following what appears to have been a tryst. The man is crouched down while the woman stands straight, looking content as she fixes her long, flowing hair, a red slip visible beneath her unbuttoned white dress.

This seemingly triumphant seductress is believed to be inspired by his great love, Millie (or Milly) Thaulow, the wife of a distant cousin. Four years older than Munch, the sophisticated Thaulow was an accomplished woman remembered as one of the first Norwegian journalists to write about fashion and food. In the early 1920s, she published the cookbook Morson Mat under the name Milly Bergh.

The two would meet secretly in the woods outside Aasgaardstrand, carrying on an adulterous affair beginning in 1885 with what was likely the 21-year-old man’s first sexual encounter. Munch, who came from a staunchly religious background, was deeply conflicted and ashamed over the liaison. According to Daily Art Magazine, “With Thaulow, his jealousy and obsession began to impact his work. In his diary, he wrote feverishly of how she caused him to feel ‘the entire unhappiness of love.’”

His passion for Millie caused the already fragile artist to be on an emotional rollercoaster through the experience. When she ended the relationship, he was devastated, especially after Thaulow divorced her husband and married someone else.^[2]

8 Charred Landscape

In her series of paintings, often referred to as “Night Journeys,” Lee Krasner poured out her grief over the loss of her husband, revolutionary abstract expressionist artist Jackson Pollock, who died in a 1956 automobile accident. Even though she didn’t begin the collection until a few years after his death, it’s easy to see the emotional turmoil that influenced her work.

However, like much of the artwork that comes from heartache, the inspiration behind these paintings is complex, making them much more than a catharsis for one particular type of suffering. In addition to the pain of losing Pollock, who was most famous for developing the drip technique, Krasner was dealing with the death of her mother, going through a difficult time in her career, and struggling with insomnia, leading her to work at night. “Let me say that when I painted a good part of these things, I was going down deep into something which wasn’t easy or pleasant,” she explained to her friend Richard Howard.

Some critics believe this series was also influenced by the liberation she felt over escaping Pollock’s shadow and the baggage that he brought to their relationship, such as his infidelity and alcoholism.

Among the most powerful of these is her strikingly intense, boldly graphic oil painting Charred Landscape (1960), characterized in part by the thickly layered style and the tightly packed images.^[3]

7 D’ana of Covl

As we know, art can be created from all sorts of things. Sometimes, especially striking or emotionally moving pieces are made from the most unusual material. This holds true for art inspired by heartache as well, including a poignant work by digital artist D’ana Nunez titled D’ana of Covl.

It is a metal locker that represents the one shared by Nunez and her former boyfriend. The two met in front of the school locker, which she has now immortalized, and dated for 9 months until he broke up with her with a text message. The piece is very realistic, containing books, photos, notes, a backpack, and various other items typical of a high school locker. The authenticity makes the work particularly effective in evoking memories of doomed teenage romances for those who view it.

In the description, Nunez says: “Now this locker represents a tiring moment of heartbreak all bundled up in a 5′ piece of gauge steel. Sorted through moments of organized mess, a relationship that was made to last.”^[4]

6 The Nightmare

Unrequited love can be as painful as a relationship coming to an end. One of the boldest and most provocative examples of an artist inspired by love that was not fulfilled is Henry Fuseli’s 1781 painting The Nightmare, which many believe was based on his unrequited love for acquaintance Anna Landolt. They were in the same social circle, but she was engaged to someone else and did not return Fuseli’s feelings.

The painting depicts a woman lying down asleep, and on her chest is an incubus (a male demon in folklore who has sex with sleeping women). We also see the head of a horse peeking out from behind a curtain. The contrast between the sleeping woman dressed in a white nightgown and bathed in bright light and the dark tones behind her is obvious.

Fuseli wrote to a friend describing an erotic dream he’d had about Landolt. He talked about how he had “fused” their bodies and souls together in the dream and said, “Anyone who touches her now commits adultery and incest! She is mine, and I am hers. And have her, I will.”^[5]

5 Make Me Your Marilyn

It’s not that unusual for an artist to do more than one piece inspired by a former lover, but British artist Matt Dickson has done a series of paintings about the painful end of his relationship with an ex-boyfriend. The pieces vividly depict Dickson’s sorrow and angst to a surprising extent, even compared to other works born out of heartbreak.

One particularly dramatic painting is titled Make Me Your Marilyn (2015), showing a young man from the shoulders up. He is in a bathtub crying, with tears pouring out of his eyes and a caption painted below reading, “Look At Me Andy.”

Crack Magazine calls the collection “unapologetically intimate portraits of himself and his ex, created while in the throes of heartbreak.”^[6]

4 My Bed

Tracey Emin is best known for creating art that has been inspired by heartbreak. A prime example of this is her 1998 work, My Bed, a controversial and shockingly intimate piece that is considered her turning point as an artist. According to Artlyst, the work was “the result of a traumatic broken relationship.”

The installation, transported to Tokyo’s Sagacho Exhibition and later to the Tate Britain exhibition, included the actual bed, complete with messy sheets and pillows, where Emin spent a four-day bender prompted by a painful relationship breakup, though her former lover remains anonymous. The bed is surrounded by crumpled tissues, cigarettes, a pregnancy test, empty vodka bottles, and other very personal items. My Bed is embraced in part for its relatability. It is also praised and sometimes criticized for its raw vulnerability.^[7]

3 Drawing of Frida Kahlo

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo frequently depicted one another in their art, conveying different emotions and phases of their passionate relationship. The most famous of these pieces, which had a connection to heartbreak—such as The Two Fridas and Diego and I—were done by Kahlo, but on the anniversary of her death, Rivera drew a very intriguing portrait of his late wife.

The two were still married during Kahlo’s untimely death, though she eventually concluded that Rivera could never truly be a husband to anyone. However, he was deeply grieved by her passing, and later, when describing that time, he would say, “Too late now I realized that the most wonderful part of my life had been my love for Frida.”

The drawing is a mysterious piece that, according to the BBC, “manages to transform her image into a kind of inscrutable Sphinx.” Ironically, the work was based on a picture by a photographer who was Kahlo’s lover during her first marriage to Rivera. Filled with symbolism, the drawing adds elements such as fire and earth in the framing of her face.^[8]

2 The Death of Casagemas

Not all art inspired by heartbreak involves a romantic relationship. Pablo Picasso did many paintings of wives and girlfriends over the years, but one strikingly poignant work was a portrait of his close friend, painter and poet Carlos Casagemas, who committed suicide by shooting himself in a Parisian café at the age of 20.

Picasso’s painting The Death of Casagemas, depicting the subject lying in his casket, marked the beginning of what is known as Picasso’s Blue Period (1901–1904), characterized by paintings that were predominantly monochromatic and often featured somber, melancholy themes, with blue or green tones often dominating.

After traveling to Paris with Picasso to see the World’s Fair in 1900, Casagemas fell in love with Laure Gargallo, called Germaine. After being spurned by Germaine, he tried to kill her and then succeeded at killing himself on February 17, 1901. Though Picasso’s Blue Period did not actually begin until about six months after Casagemas’s death, the artist himself cited the tragedy as the catalyst for this phase of his career.^[9]

1 The Mature Age

There are many examples of romances between fellow artists, which are marked by deep passion and volatility. While these unions can sometimes be destructive for those involved, they can also produce truly magnificent artwork, such as the sculpture The Mature Age (L’Âge de maturité) by Camille Claudel, who was a pupil, lover, and muse of the iconic sculptor Auguste Rodin.

Less than half of Rodin’s age, the very talented Claudel was only 19 when she became his protégée, but her career was ultimately derailed by mental illness. During their intense and complex 15-year relationship, the two artists created works that were each inspired by the other. However, The Mature Age—also known as The Age of Maturity—is a stunningly emotive piece that Claudel created after their breakup.

The piece depicts an older man, believed by many to be Rodin, shown “hesitating between his aging mistress and his young lover,” according to Musée Rodin. The younger woman pleading with him to stay is thought to be Claudel.^[10]