Duchampian News & Views

  • A Short Biography of the
    Baroness Elsa Freytag-Loringhoven
    including some of her writings

    "The Baroness Else von Freytag-Loringhoven (sometimes printed with another 'von' after 'Freytag') was one of the most bizarre characters seen in Greenwich Village during the '20s. In many ways the Baroness's life was so tragic and ridiculous that it is difficult to understand what interest Pound took in her. Until recently, very little was known of her day-to-day life. Since the publication of her autobiography by Paul Hjartarson and Douglas O. Spettigue in 1992, much mo.. read more...
  • Marcel Duchamp: A Game of Chess

    "This film records an in-depth interview with Duchamp which took place five years before his death, at the time of his first ever one-man show (at the Pasadena Art Museum). It records for posterity Duchamp talking about his life, his ideas on art, why he chose to continue living in America after fleeing France in 1915, and why he virtually abandoned his work as an artist in 1923. An engaging dialogue takes place between Duchamp and film-maker Jean-Marie Drot as they go a.. read more...
  • Fountain Named Most Influential Modern Art Work of All Time

    In 2004, Duchamp’s Fountain was named the most influential art modern art work of all time by a poll of 500 art experts. Following the announcement, an article on the BBC News website asked readers, “Do you think the Fountain is an influential work of modern art? Do you agree with the experts? Which piece would you have voted for?” The varied responses to this show that the questions Duchamp raised about the nature of art are still very much alive today. Alt.. read more...
  • Speed Art Museum Presents Marcel Duchamp

    "Louisville, Kentucky - The Speed Art Museum is excited to present to Louisville an exhibition of Marcel Duchamp: Marcel, Marcel. On exhibition 13 November through 17 February, 2008.Perhaps no artist of the twentieth century has aroused more passion and controversy, nor exerted a greater influence on art than Marcel Duchamp. Born 1887 in Blainville, France, Duchamp came to the public’s attention with his painting Nude Descending a Staircase No.2, which caused a fur.. read more...
  • Changing Art Forever: Marcel Duchamp

            "Four readers requested a post on Marcel Duchamp, one of the most controversial and most discussed artists in recent history. A Google search yields almost 1.5 million results for the French and American artist, whose 121st birthday was yesterday. Much of the controversy and discussion revolves around Duchamp’s “readymades,” particularly “Fountain” (1917), but, as evidenced by the four works of art above.. read more...
  • Duchamp and his legacy

    "What accounts for the immense intellectual prestige which the mystique of Marcel Duchamp has enjoyed in this country – if only in certain circles, to be sure – for more decades than most of us can now remember?"

    read more...
  • Simplistic Art: Artcore stuff

    "The following excerpt from the autobiography of Lydie Fischer Sarazin-Levassor (Duchamp’s wife) is revealing, punny and insightful."

    read more...
  • Input/ Output: Marcel Duchamp

    " What is it then that distinguishes the offer of art 'Fountain' from the functional product urinal? Visible changes that were carried out by Duchamp and appear as material language, are the signature (R. Mutt 1917), the presentation (the backside lying on a pedestal - compare with the historical photo by Stieglitz for the journal 391), the place of presentation (not a sanitation shop-window, not a washroom - but an exhibition, museum - compare to a picture of Marcel Duchamp .. read more...
  • Marjorie Perloff’s Dada Without Duchamp / Duchamp Without Dada:
    Avant-Garde Tradition and the Individual Talent

    Dada is referred to by both art critics and it own members as a collective movement and a group provocation of both the art world and its long-held belief in individual genius.Duchamp himself, through his use of mass-produced objects, questioned the role of the individual artist.Yet at the same time, Duchamp is singled out as the movement’s leader and towers over its other members.  Majorie Perloff's ariticle Dada Without Duchamp/Duchamp Without Dada: Avant-Garde T.. read more...