Duchamp

by Janis Mink

Overview

When is a urinal no longer a urinal? When Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) declared it to be art. The uproar that greeted the French artist’s Fountain (1917), a porcelain urinal installed in a gallery, sent shock waves through the art world establishment that reverberate right through to today.

This essential introduction distills all the daring and the scandal of Duchamp’s practice into one essential overview not only of a pioneering creative but also of a critical moment in Western culture. From his groundbreaking blend of abstraction, Cubism, and Futurism in Nude Descending a Staircase (1912) to his forays into the now-iconic “readymades” such as Bicycle Wheel (1913) and Bottle Rack (1914) we explore how Duchamp consistently challenged the notion of what art is and, in so doing, opened up a world of conceptual possibilities beyond the “retinal” experience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783836543934
Publisher:	Taschen America, LLC
Publication date:	09/01/2013
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 12.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Janis Mink studied art history at Smith College and gained her doctorate in Hamburg under Martin Warnke. She is presently a writer and curator.

Table of Contents

	Why Not Sneeze?	6
	A Young Man in Spring	10
	On a Train of Thought	28
	Breaking Free	42
	Major Accomplishments	62
	Chronology	94