The Greatest Unfinished Works

Mar 19, 2025

Some works were left incomplete due to death, distraction, or creative struggle—yet their unfinished state only adds to their mystique. These incomplete masterpieces offer glimpses into artistic processes, unfulfilled ambition, and what might have been.



01. Franz Schubert – Symphony No. 8 in B Minor ("Unfinished Symphony") (1822)

A symphony left mysteriously incomplete after two movements, yet still one of the most hauntingly beautiful compositions ever written.

02. Charles Dickens – The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870)

Dickens died before revealing who the murderer was, leaving this detective novel in eternal suspense.

03. Orson Welles – The Other Side of the Wind (1970s, released posthumously in 2018)

A film about filmmaking, left incomplete due to legal and financial battles—its fragmented, experimental nature makes it even more fascinating.

04. J.R.R. Tolkien – The Silmarillion (Begun in 1917, unfinished at death in 1973, published posthumously in 1977)

Tolkien's grand mythological history of Middle-earth was never fully completed in his lifetime, leaving his son Christopher to assemble and publish his notes.

05. Leonardo da Vinci – Adoration of the Magi (1481)

An unfinished painting, but even in its incomplete state, it reveals da Vinci's intricate process of composition and perspective.

06. Stanley Kubrick – Napoleon (Unmade Film, 1969)

Kubrick's most ambitious project never materialized due to budget concerns, but his research and script still influence historical epics today.

07. Jane Austen – Sanditon (1817)

Austen's last novel, abandoned due to illness, remains an intriguing fragment of what could have been another masterpiece of social satire.

08. Hermann Melville – Billy Budd, Sailor (1891, published posthumously in 1924)

A novella found among Melville's papers, filled with revisions and contradictions, reflecting an author still wrestling with his ideas.

09. Gustav Mahler – Symphony No. 10 (1910, unfinished at death in 1911)

Mahler sketched out the symphony's structure, but only the first movement was fully orchestrated—what remains is raw, emotional, and intensely personal.

10. Mark Twain – The Mysterious Stranger (Started in the 1890s, abandoned multiple times)

A dark philosophical novel about a supernatural visitor, left in multiple incomplete versions with no definitive ending.


Honorable Mentions

Literature & Philosophy

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Love of the Last Tycoon (1940, unfinished at his death)

  • Edgar Allan Poe – The Lighthouse (1849, abandoned before his death)

  • Franz Kafka – The Castle (1922, left unfinished at his death in 1924)

  • Albert Camus – The First Man (Unfinished novel, 1960, published posthumously)

  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge – Kubla Khan (1797, unfinished opium-induced poem)

  • Geoffrey Chaucer – The Canterbury Tales (1400, unfinished at his death)

  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau – The Reveries of the Solitary Walker (1776-1778, incomplete at his death)

Music

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Requiem (1791, unfinished at his death, completed by his student Süssmayr)

  • Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 10 (Unfinished at his death, sketches remain)

  • Claude Debussy – Six Sonatas for Various Instruments (Planned as six pieces, only completed three before his death in 1918)

  • Edvard Grieg – Piano Concerto No. 2 (1883–1884, abandoned)

  • Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 9 (1896, unfinished at his death, completed by later composers in multiple versions)

Film & Visual Arts

  • David Lynch – Ronnie Rocket (Unmade surrealist film project)

  • Sergio Leone – Leningrad (Unmade WWII epic planned before his death in 1989)

  • Claude Monet – His final Water Lilies series (left incomplete due to declining vision)

  • Hieronymus Bosch – The Last Judgment (C. 1500, an incomplete triptych painting)

  • Paul Cézanne – His final self-portrait (Left unfinished at his death in 1906)


Why Do Unfinished Works Fascinate Us?

  • They reveal the creative process – Seeing an artist's raw, unfinished ideas gives insight into their thinking.

  • They invite speculation – Readers, historians, and critics debate how these works should have ended.

  • They feel timeless – Their lack of finality keeps them open-ended, forever engaging the imagination.