Creator story
Surprising fact
Duchamp submitted Fountain — a urinal signed R. Mutt — to a 1917 exhibition; it was rejected, then became one of the most influential artworks ever.
Source: Wikipedia / WikimediaCubo-Futurism
Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) was the most radical artist of the 20th century, who overturned the very definition of art with his readymades. By signing a urinal — Fountain — he shifted art from craft to idea, founding conceptual art.
Duchamp's idea that anything an artist chooses can be art underlies almost all of contemporary art.
- Invented the readymade — ordinary objects declared to be art.
- Fountain, a signed urinal, redefined what art could be.
- Largely abandoned art for chess, yet shaped every movement after him.
Key works
Key works by Marcel Duchamp
These works make it easiest to see how the artist changed form, content, and the very way art could exist in culture.
1912
Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2
Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 is one of Marcel Duchamp's defining works.
1917
Fountain
Fountain is one of Marcel Duchamp's defining works.