Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) was a French-American artist whose work and ideas helped redefine modern art, particularly through the development of readymades and a questioning of artistic authority. He is widely regarded as a key figure in Dada and an early precursor of conceptual art, moving beyond traditional craft to emphasize ideas over execution.

Duchamp produced some of his most influential works by selecting ordinary manufactured objects and designating them as art. This approach, known as the readymade, challenged conventional definitions of art, authorship, and aesthetic value. Notable examples include Bicycle Wheel (1913), Bottle Rack (1914), In Advance of the Broken Arm (1915), and Fountain (1917), the latter submitted to the Society of Independent Artists under the pseudonym R. Mutt and controversial for reframing what could be considered art. His major extended work The Large Glass (The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even) (1915–23) further explored the interaction of form, chance, and viewer interpretation.

Duchamp spent significant periods in both Europe and the United States, influencing a broad circle of artists, writers, and collectors. He also cultivated a persona, most famously the anonymous alter ego Rrose Sélavy, to question gender, identity, and authorship. He remained a central figure in discussions about what constitutes art and how ideas can carry artistic meaning, rather than material technique alone.

His influence extended well beyond his lifetime, shaping later movements such as conceptual art, Fluxus, and contemporary practices that foreground idea over form. Duchamp’s legacy rests on the provocative notion that art can be an idea, a context, or a question as much as a physical object.