Posted by Thomas Girst on March 23, 20100 at 09:40:42:
In Reply to: Thanks.. one more thing.. posted by Shane on March 22, 20100 at 11:29:28:
Dear Shane,
you are raising two crucial questions re: Duchamp
and I apologize for not having the time to answer
thoroughly. You could always call (212) 925-8812
and I would call right back - or come by if you
are in New York. Ms. Shearer's vast collection
of works by Duchamp is open by appointment.
as to the 'how' re: LHOOQ
he claimed he bought a postcard or a cheap
lithograph and just put a moustache andgoatee on.
In case he did alter the appearance of the
Mona Lisa first, compositing it with his face...
processes like this were common in the early
20th century and Duchamp was very well aware of
them - further proof is needed of course.
As to 'why' artists admire him?
hmm, that deserves a whole paper.
He was tremendously intelligent and Pop Art would
not have been possible without him. he's pretty
much at the bottom of a lot of different
directions art took after dada and surrealism,
both movements Duchamp had a big impact on
without committing himself too much. his
idea of the ready-made expanded tremendously the
scope of what we view as art and a lot of his
works and statements question the
very foundation of what people thought of as art
up until he came along. it still reverberates.
His 1917 urinal 'Fountain'(one of the
1964 edition) sold last novemeber at sotehby's
for 1.7 million $. it still had the power to
ridicule the art market around him.
Sorry, i got to leave it at that.
Best,