Marcel Duchamp
French painter and sculptor (1887-1968) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marcel Duchamp (28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art. He advised modern art collectors, such as Peggy Guggenheim and other prominent figures, thereby helping to shape the tastes of Western art during this period.[1]
Marcel Duchamp | |
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Born | Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (1887-07-28)28 July 1887 Blainville-Crevon, France |
Died | 2 October 1968(1968-10-02) (aged 81) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France |
Nationality | French, became a U.S. citizen in 1955 |
Known for | Painting, sculpture, film |
Notable work | Nude Descending a Staircase, #2 (1912) Fountain (1917) The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even (1915-23) Etant donnés (1946-66) |
Movement | Dada, Surrealism |
A playful man, Duchamp challenged conventional thought about artistic processes and art marketing, not so much by writing, but through subversive actions such as dubbing a urinal art and naming it Fountain. This approach would 50 years later be called conceptual art, though he himself used the term 'ready-mades' for this idea. He produced relatively few artworks, while moving quickly through the avant-garde circles of his time.
The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.[2]