Marcel Duchamp

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Duchamp's first readymade was Bottle Rack in 1914, a galvanized iron bottle drying rack he bought as an "already made" sculpture, but it gathered dust in his Paris studio because the idea of "readymade" had not yet been born. Two years later, through correspondence from New York with his sister Suzanne Duchamp in France, he intended to make it a readymade by asking her to paint on it "(from) Marcel Duchamp." However, Suzanne, who was looking after his Paris studio, had already disposed of it. The first piece Duchamp actually called a "readymade" was In Advance of the Broken Arm (1915), a snow shovel on which he carefully painted its title. New to America, Duchamp had never seen a snow shovel not manufactured in France. With fellow Frenchman Jean Crotti he purchased it from a stack, took it to their shared studio, painted the title and "from Marcel Duchamp 1915" on it, and hung it from a wire. It was eventually lost. Fountain (1917), a porcelain urinal inscribed "R. Mutt 1917," was submitted to the Society of Independent Artists exhibit, of which Duchamp was a director. The board, after much debate about whether it was art, hid the piece from view. Duchamp quickly quit the society. In a 1917 letter to his sister, he wrote: "One of my female friends who had adopted the pseudonym Richard Mutt sent me a porcelain urinal as a sculpture." The friend was Louise Norton (later Varèse). Duchamp said of readymades: "The curious thing about the readymade is that I've never been able to arrive at a definition or explanation that fully satisfies me." Much later he said, "I'm not at all sure that the concept of the readymade isn't the most important single idea to come out of my work."

Reader's Guide

Duchamp's readymades fall into several types. Readymades are un-altered objects. Assisted readymades put several readymades together, taking away their use—like Bicycle Wheel (1913), a bicycle wheel mounted by its fork on a painted wooden stool, which he fashioned to amuse himself by spinning it "...like watching a fire... It was a pleasant gadget, pleasant for the movement it gave." It is considered the first readymade, though he did not have the idea for readymades until two years later. The original from 1913 was lost, and Duchamp recreated it in 1951. Bicycle Wheel is also said to be the first kinetic sculpture. Rectified readymades are altered or marked readymades, such as L.H.O.O.Q. (1919), a pencil drawing on a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa on which he drew a goatee and moustache. The name, when pronounced in French, is a coarse pun—"elle a chaud au cul," translating colloquially as "she's got a hot ass."

In 1964, Duchamp authorized a limited edition release of replicas of fourteen of his readymades through Galleria Schwarz in Milan. Schwarz replicated the works with oversight from Duchamp, taking "almost fanatical care" in reproducing them accurately. Critical reaction was generally negative—artist Daniel Buren said Duchamp had "sold out to commercialism." However, as decades passed, the replicas "gradually became mainstreamed and eventually became stand-ins for the lost originals, sharing their status and value," according to Israel Museum curator Adina Kamien. Today, Schwarz's replicas are found in museums around the world. Most of Duchamp's early readymades have been lost or discarded, but years later he commissioned reproductions of many of them.

Did You Know?

• Duchamp only made a total of 13 readymades over a period of 30 years.
• The first piece Duchamp called a 'readymade' was In Advance of the Broken Arm (1915), a snow shovel.
• Fountain (1917) was submitted by a female friend who had adopted the pseudonym Richard Mutt—Louise Norton (later Varèse).
• Bicycle Wheel (1913) is considered the first readymade and also the first kinetic sculpture.
• In 1964, Duchamp authorized a limited edition of replicas of fourteen readymades through Galleria Schwarz in Milan.