Man Ray, Portrait of Marcel Duchamp, gelatine silver print, 1920-21.
French-American artistMarcel Duchampwas a pioneering figure in the avant-garde anti-art movement known asDadaism.
Learn all about Dadaism’s most famous figure with these five Marcel Duchamp facts.
Man Ray, “Portrait of Marcel Duchamp,” gelatine silver print, 1920-21. Photo:Yale University Art Gallery, (Public Domain {PD-US})
He came from a creative family.
Marcel Duchamp, Five-Way Portrait of Marcel Duchamp, 21 June 1917.
His two older brothers and younger sister also became artists.
Marcel Duchamp, “Five-Way Portrait of Marcel Duchamp,” 21 June 1917. Photo:National Portrait Gallery(Public Domain, {PD-US})
In fact, Suzanne Duchamp-Crottihis sisterwas one of the few female participants of the Dada movement.
He rejected retinal art.
Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, No.
Marcel Duchamp, “Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2,” oil on canvas, 1912. Photo:Philadelphia Museum of Art(Public Domain, {PD-US})
2, oil on canvas, 1912.
After his workNude Descending a Staircase, No.
2, was criticized for being tooFuturistfor aCubistexhibition, he came disillusioned with style groups.
Marcel Duchamp, “Fountain,” 1917. Photograph by Alfred Stieglitz. Photo:Wikimedia Commons(Public Domain, {PD-US})
Duchamp’s second turning point came after reading Max Stirner’s philosophical tract,The Ego and Its Own.
This text greatly influenced the way in which the Frenchman approached art.
From then on, herejected visually pleasing paintingsin favor of conceptualart that challenged the mind.
Marcel Duchamp, “L.H.O.O.Q.,” 1919. Photo:Wikimedia Commons(Public Domain, {PD-US})
He sometimes worked under a pseudonym.
Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917.
Photograph by Alfred Stieglitz.
I wanted any old name.
And I added Richard [French slang for money-bags].
That’s not a bad name for a pissotiere.
The opposite of poverty.
But not even that much, just R. MUTT.
Duchamp gave up art for chess.
Marcel Duchamp, L.H.O.O.Q., 1919.
Eventually, Duchamp took a step back from competitive chess and became a chess journalist.
In 1952, hesaid, I am still a victim of chess.
It has all the beauty of artand much more.
it cannot be commercialized.
Chess is much purer than art in its social position.
Duchamp secretly worked on his last work of art for almost 25 years.
The Waterfall, 2.
The Illuminating Gas(French:Etant donnes: 1.
La chute deau, 2.
The tableau is only visible through a pair of peepholes in a wooden door.
Duchamp requested the work not be seen by the public until after his death.
He even left a four-ring binder of illustrated instructions on how to assemble and disassemble the piece.
Today, people can view the piece one at a time at thePhiladelphia Museum of Art.
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