Marcel Duchamp (1887 – 1968)
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Marcel Duchamp was a French-born artist, who redefined modern art in the post World War I era. While Duchamp is often associated with the Surrealist and Dadaist movements, his work remains in a league of its own. Duchamp challenged the way people think about art and artistic practices. While Duchamp did not produce a large quantity of works, the pieces he did produce were often controversial and avant-garde.
Duchamp was born in the Haute-Normandie region of France. Duchamp’s siblings Jacques Villon, Raymond Duchamp-Villon and Suzanne Duchamp-Crotti were also active artists. As a child, Duchamp drew and painted alongside his older siblings.
From 1904 to 1905 Duchamp studied at the Académie Julian in Paris. After only a year of study, Duchamp was obligated to join the army, where he worked as a printer. As a printer Duchamp was able to learn about printing processes and typography.
In 1908-09 Duchamp exhibited his work in both the Salon d’Automne and the Salon des Indépendants. Duchamp soon became acquainted with a circle of like-minded artists including Picabia, Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger, Roger de la Fresnaye, Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, Juan Gris and Alexander Archipenko. The group, hosted by Duchamp’s brother, Jacques, was known as the Puteaux Group or Orphic Cubists.
Duchamp’s first controversial work was ‘Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2’. Duchamp gradually moved away from Cubist theory and started exploring the ‘fourth dimension’. In 1913 Duchamp entered the Armory Show in New York City, known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, where he continued to stir the minds of critics and spectators.
After 1913 Duchamp created few traditional paintings and devoted his attention to technical drawings. Duchamp became less engaged with academic painters and spent his time working in a library and studying math and science.
In 1915, a year after the start of World War I, Duchamp made the decision to leave Paris and emigrate to the United States. Duchamp settled in New York, where he quickly met artists and art patrons.
By 1920 Duchamp formed the Société Anonyme with Katherine Dreier and Man Ray. The group was able to bring European Dadaist ideas to New York. The group discussed ‘ready-mades’ and ‘found’ art, among other things.
Duchamp made his most controversial move by submitting his most iconic piece; a urinal coined ‘Fountain’, to the Society of Independent Artists. His submission outraged fellow Dadaists. Despite criticism, Duchamp continued to work and published a Dada magazine in New York known as The Blind Man.
In 1918 Duchamp took a break from his main artwork ‘Large Glass’ and travelled to Argentina. In Argentina Duchamp focused on playing chess, an exercise he compared to drawing.
In 1923, after the end of the war, Duchamp returned to Paris through the financial backing of Jacques Doucet. In Paris, Duchamp withdrew from Dadaism and began to make optical devices. The devices were known as Rotoreliefs and would spin around on a phonograph. The spinning designs were filmed and produced in 1926 as Anémic Cinéma.
While the Rotorelief project was not incredibly successful, Duchamp continued to play chess in France, as he thought is was more pure than art, which was easily commercialized and tainted.
Marcel Duchamp is now recognized for the tremendous impact he made on the art world. His pieces are in the most prestigious, international museums and collections. Do you think you own a piece by Marcel Duchamp? Contact us. We are the experts on Marcel Duchamp.