Marcel Duchamp

Dada artist Marcel Duchamp was born on July 28,1887 in Blainville, near Rouen, France. His brother is sculptor Raymond Duchamp Villon and his half-brother is painter Jacques Villon. Duchamp began his career influenced by Cubism. His painting, Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2, is a primary example, portraying continuous movement through a chain of overlapping cubist figures. The painting was the hit of the 1913 New York Armory Show. Dada was an "anti-art" movement that began in Zurich with the opening of the Cabaret Voltair by German poet, musician and stage producer Hugo Ball. By 1918, the movement had spread to Berlin, Cologne and Paris. It was based on the idea that anything could be art as long as an artist says it is and any method could be used by the artist to convey his idea. This notion, coupled with Duchamp's own conviction that painting had no future, led Duchamp to his interest in ready-mades- Ordinary objects, such as a urinal or hat rack, when signed and given an unrelated title, became works of art. His masterpiece in this medium, The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass), was conceptualized in 1913. He was inspired by the way paint looked on the back of a glass pallette. He worked on the piece periodically for the next 10 years. He experimented with drawing techniques. First, etching with acid but when the fumes were overwhelming he began drawing on the glass with lead wire. Even the dust that was left on the piece during periods of inactivity was glued down. In 1923 he declared that the piece would remain in a state of "definitive incompletion". When the piece was broken during transport after an exhibition Duchamp left the work in disrepair. Marcel Duchamp influenced much of the art of the 20th Century. He became the forerunner to Surrealism, Dada and Pop Art. Duchamp became an American citizen in 1955. He died in Paris on October 1,1968.

Marcel Duchamp Images:
Nude Descending a Staircase #2
Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2,1912