From the artist's life
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
Where to start
Complete list of key works
Works with a dedicated ArtAtlas page are highlighted in gold.
- Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2On ArtAtlas
- FountainOn ArtAtlas
- L.H.O.O.Q.Listed for reference
- Bicycle WheelListed for reference
- The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, EvenListed for reference
- Étant donnésListed for reference
- Anemic CinemaListed for reference
- Why Not Sneeze, Rose Sélavy?Listed for reference
- Box in a ValiseListed for reference
- Troom troomListed for reference
- Apolinère EnameledListed for reference
- Bottle RackListed for reference
1912
Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2
Fellow Cubists found the work too “Futurist” and, through Duchamp’s brothers, asked him to withdraw it (or drop the title) from the 1912 Salon des Indépendants — and he complied, removing it himself. The episode pushed him away from art groups.
1917
Fountain
The original Fountain is lost — it is known only from one 1917 photograph by Alfred Stieglitz.