- Académie Julian
- Lycée Pierre-Corneille
- École des chartes
Marcel Duchamp shifted the center of artistic value from manual skill toward selection, language, context and idea. Trained as a painter, he caused a sensation with Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 before largely abandoning conventional painting. Beginning with Bicycle Wheel and Fountain, his readymades proposed that an ordinary manufactured object could become art through an artist’s choice and its displacement into a new context. His long, deliberately discontinuous practice also included the Large Glass, optical experiments, chess and the secret construction Étant donnés.
Readymade; sculpture; painting; installation; film; print; conceptual practice
Gallery Representation
Major Works
- 1912Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 →Oil on canvasPhiladelphia Museum of Art
- 1913Bicycle Wheel →Bicycle wheel and stool; readymadeOriginal lost; replicas in museum collections
- 1913–19143 Standard Stoppages →Mixed-media constructionMoMA
- 1917Fountain →Porcelain urinal; readymadeOriginal lost; authorized replicas
- 1919L.H.O.O.Q. →Pencil on postcard reproductionMultiple versions / Centre Pompidou
- 1915–1923The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass) →Oil, varnish, lead foil, lead wire and dust on glassPhiladelphia Museum of Art
- 1920Fresh Widow →Miniature French window; readymadeMoMA
- 1926Anémic Cinéma →FilmMoMA
- 1935–1941Box in a Valise →Portable museum / mixed mediaMultiple editions; MoMA among collections
- 1946–1966Étant donnés →Mixed-media installationPhiladelphia Museum of Art
Museums & Public Collections
Selected Exhibitions
- 1913 Armory Show, New YorkMajor exhibition / biennial / historical milestonegroup
- 1963 Marcel Duchamp retrospective, Pasadena Art MuseumMajor exhibition / biennial / historical milestonegroup
- 1973 Marcel Duchamp, MoMAMajor exhibition / biennial / historical milestonegroup
Interviews & Writing
- Museum-quality video search →RESEARCH QUEUEvideo
Related Artists