Marcel Duchamp's Fountain is 1 of his most iconic readymades and a masterpiece of twentieth century art. In this article, Singulart explores the concept of the readymade and the history of Fountain in the context of Duchamp's life.

Who was Marcel Duchamp?

Marcel Duchamp © YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY
Marcel Duchamp © YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY

Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) was born in Blainville, Normandy in a family where all his siblings also became artists. From 1904-1905 he studied at the Académie Julian and his early paintings were influenced by Matisse, Fauvism and Mail service-Impressionism. In 1911, he developed his own fashion of Cubism, which was as Futurist in its inspirations and which is characterised past his 1912 piece of work, Nude Descending a Staircase. From 1913, Duchamp rejected what he described as "retinal" fine art and began to make "readymades". The readymades were appropriated everyday objects, which Duchamp used to question the notion of fine art and to remove the notions of adoration and allure surrounding fine art which he plant unnecessary. His starting time readymade was the 1913 version of Bike Wheel, in which he mounted a wheel on a wooden stool. Another of his nigh famous readymades was Fountain, which was made up of a urinal signed R. Mutt. Duchamp'due south readymades had a huge influence on the conventional agreement of art and paved the way for many other revolutionary artists to follow.

Later the outbreak of World War I, most of Duchamp's friends left Paris to serve at the Forepart, however Duchamp, who was exempt from service due to a heart murmur, decided to emigrate to America. After the success of Nude Descending a Staircase, Duchamp was able to finance the motion himself and was met with relative celebrity upon his arrival in New York. During this time, forth with the artist Francis Picabia, he was part of the New York Dada grouping and he developed his ideas around "anti-art" and kinetic art that he had already begun with the readymades.

Duchamp too worked nether pseudonyms, such as Rrose Sélavy, which he used in addition to his readymades to question the romanticisation of the artist effigy. He was besides interested in music and made several compositions based on hazard which influenced the work of John Cage in the 1950'due south. From 1918, Duchamp largely stopped producing art and began to play chess. He traveled to Buenos Aires to play and and then connected to live betwixt Paris and New York, living more permanently in Greenwich Hamlet from 1942, where he was more of a consultant to artists, dealers and collectors. He died in 1968 at his home in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France.

What is Fountain?

Marcel Duchamp, Fountain (1917) Photograph by Alfred Stieglitz
Marcel Duchamp, Fountain (1917) Photograph by Alfred Stieglitz

Marcel Duchamp'southward Fountain is ane of his almost famous readymades and is renowned as an iconic slice of twentieth century art. Fountain consists of a urinal displayed on its back and signed "R.Mutt 1917" in black paint. Duchamp explained the option of R.Mutt, stating: "Mutt comes from Mott Works, the proper name of a large germ-free equipment manufacturer. But Mott was too close so I altered information technology to Mutt, after the daily cartoon strip "Mutt and Jeff" which appeared at the time, and with which everyone was familiar. Thus, from the start, in that location was an coaction of Mutt: a fat picayune funny man, and Jeff: a alpine sparse man… I wanted whatever sometime name. And I added Richard [French slang for money-numberless]. That's non a bad name for a pissotière. Go information technology? The opposite of poverty. But non even that much, merely R. MUTT".

Duchamp claimed that the idea for Fountain was inspired past a chat with the fine art collector Walter Arensberg and the creative person Joseph Stella, which led him to purchase and sign a urinal and submit it to the Society of Independent Artists in New York. Despite the fact that the Order was supposed to take all works by all artists who were function of the society and Duchamp himself was on the board of Directors, the board rejected Fountain and refused to include it in the exhibition for numerous reasons. This caused a scandal and in the Dada magazine produced by Duchamp and his friends, they dedicated the work, writing: "Whether Mr Mutt with his own hands made the fountain or not has no importance. He CHOSE information technology. He took an ordinary commodity of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new idea for that object."

Despite all the controversy surrounding its exhibition, Fountain went on to become 1 of Duchamp's about iconic readymades and ane of the nearly influential works of fine art of the twentieth century, questioning what constitutes a piece of work of art.

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