1941.446a-c
Monday, December 12, 2005
|
| Department: |
Modern and Contemporary Art |
| English translation: |
Rotary Glass Plates (Precision Optics) formerly titled as,
Revolving Glass Machine |
| Foreign title: |
Appareil Rotatif (Optique de Precision) |
| Foreign title: |
Rotative Plaque Verre (Optique de Precision) |
| Classification: |
Sculpture |
| Artist: |
Artist Marcel Duchamp, French, 1887 - 1968 |
| Label Text: |
Rotary Glass Plates is a motorized device that demonstrates
the continuity of visual impressions. Its five glass blades
and (portions of the support) are painted so that when set in
motion and viewed head-on, the machine forms concentric circles
on a single plane. For about eight years before constructing
this apparatus, Duchamp had been reading various treatises on
mathematics and perceptions, and a number of his art works dealt
with rotating machines. Rotary Glass Plates was the first actual
machine that Duchamp made in his quest for a new world that
would no longer separate art from idea. |
| Date Label: |
1920 |
| Culture: |
French |
| Period: |
20th century |
| Medium: |
Painted glass and iron with electric motor |
| Description: |
Five glass plates painted with segments of black and white
circles, turning on a metal axis powered by an electric motor,
supported by a frame of metal and wood 166.3 cm to top of largest
blade, posed vertically; 117.8 cm to top surface of axial shaft;
largest glass blade: 14.2 x 99.3 cm; wooden base at floor; 120.8
x 145.8 cm |
| Dimensions: |
165.7 x 157.5 x 96.5 cm (65 1/4 x 62 x 38 in. ) |
| Inscription(s): |
Inscribed in paint on front of foremost support crossbar,
below aapex: AV DEV; stenciled on wood above the engine: AR |
| Notes: |
S.A. 1; B.5; lived in America |
| Provenance: |
Societe Anonyme Collection |
| Curatorial Remarks: |
Registrar note for dims:
65.25 inches = 5 foot, 5 1/4 inches
62 inches = 5 foot, 2 inches
38 inches = 3 foot, 2 inches |
| Image: |
1941'446~13 |
| Video: |
1941'446movie |
| Image: |
1941'446~05 |
| Image: |
1941'446~06 |
| Image: |
1941'446~07 |
| Transparency 5x7 color: |
A; Color |
| Transparency 8x10 color: |
CT; Color |
| Transparency 5x7 color: |
Master; Color |
| Transparency 5x7 color: |
Master 1; Color |
| Transparency 5x7 color: |
Master 2; Color |
| Negative 5x7 BxW: |
1941'446~10 |
| Negative 8x10 BxW: |
1941'446~11 |
| Image: |
1941'446~08 |
| Exhibition History: |
New York, NY, Museum of Modern Art, "Fantastic Art, Dada,
Surrealism," 7 Dec. 1936 - 17 Jan. 1937, no. 222; Springfield,
MA, George Walter Vincent Smith Art Gallery, "Some New
Forms of Beauty 1909-1936: A Selection of the Collection of
the Societe Anonyme: Museum of Modern Art: 1920," 9 Nov.
- 17 Dec. 1939, no. 15, traveled to Hartford, CT, Wadsworth
Atheneum, 4 Jan. - 4 Feb. 1940; New Haven, CT, Yale University
Art Gallery, "Modern Art from the Collection of the Societe
Anonyme: Museum of Modern Art: 1920," 14 Jan. - 22 Feb.
1942; New Haven, CT, Yale University Art Gallery, "Duchamp,
Duchamp-Villon, Villon," 1 Mar. - 1 Apr. 1945, no. 32;
New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery, "An Exhibition
of Painting and Sculpture by the Directors of the Societe Anonyme
Since Its Foundation: 1920 - 1948, 6 Mar. - 11 Apr. 1948, no.
34; New York, NY, Museum of Modern Art, "Dada, Surrealism,
and Their Heritage," 27 Mar. - 9 June, 1968, no. 86, did
not travel; New York, NY, Museum of Modern Art, "The Machine
as Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age," 25 Nov. 1968
- 9 Feb. 1969; Philadelphia, PA, Philadelphia Museum of Art,
"Marcel Duchamp," 22 Sept. - 11 Nov. 1973, no. 135,
traveled to New York, NY, Museum of Modern Art, 3 Dec. 1973
- 10 Feb. 1974, then to Chicago, IL, Art Institute of Chicago,
9 Mar. - 21 Apr. 1974; New Haven, CT, Yale University Art Gallery,
"Art For a New Era: The Collection of the Societe Anonyme,
1920 - 1950," 25 Apr. - 26 Aug. 1984. |
| Published References: |
S.A. 1984 Cat. no. 234 |
| Alternate Numbers: |
1941.446 |
| Credit Line: |
Gift of the Collection Société Anonyme |
