Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968)
READYMADE ARTIST
“The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.” —Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp was conceivably one of the most inimitable artists of the 20th century. His groundbreaking philosophies left a unique imprint on numerous Avant-Garde circles and continue to inspire today—even though he produced very few works in his lifetime.
Duchamp was born in Blainville, France, to a bourgeois family whose appreciation of art, literature, music, and other cultural pursuits made a considerable impact on the six Duchamp children, four of whom, including Marcel, became artists. Duchamp’s grandfather, a businessman by trade, was also an artist and played a strong role in the family’s artistic inclinations.
In 1904, Duchamp moved to Paris where he attended the Académie Julian for a year and drew and sold cartoons that reflected his keen intellect and sense of humor. He experimented with numerous forms, including Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism; however, he never aligned himself with any particular style, and his nonconformist ideas challenged virtually every artistic convention of the time. Duchamp didn’t want to push the boundaries of art—he wanted to obliterate them. As a result, his works were often met with great antipathy.
Among his more provocative works were what he called “readymades”: ordinary manufactured objects that he modified or slightly manipulated, for example, by adding a signature or title, or otherwise dislocating an object’s position in space. Thus, a bicycle wheel, a snow shovel, and a urinal became art in Duchamp’s hands.
Duchamp’s artistic brilliance was matched only by his enigmatic wit—and few things were off limits. Even his headstone reads: “After all, it is always the others who die.” —RJR
Notable works: Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, 1912; The Bicycle Wheel, 1913; Fountain, 1917.