Marcel Duchamp's reflections on the status of the work of art and the artist's position in the face of industrial automation exerted considerable influence on the development of 20th-century art. His initial foray into modern art followed the path of his contemporaries, with early paintings in the mode of Cézanne and the Impressionists and, after 1910, a shift towards Cubism. His irreverence for conventional aesthetic standards led him to devise his famous readymades and heralded an artistic revolution. With his first readymade Bicycle Wheel (1913; now lost), he initiated a creative process that was entirely separate from conventional notions of artistic skill. Instead, he emphasised the conceptual value of a work of art, seducing the viewer through irony and verbal witticisms rather than relying on aesthetic appeal.
Although he famously embraced a career as an international chess player in the 1920s, Duchamp never truly abandoned the art world. He continued working on larger-than-life artistic projects such as Box in a Valise (1935-41) and Étant Donnés (1946-66), as well as curating exhibitions that made a sensation. Aptly described by the Abstract Expressionist painter Willem de Kooning as a one-man movement, he is associated with many avant-garde movements, from Cubism to Dada and Surrealism, and paved the way for later developments such as Pop, Minimalism and Conceptual art. Public esteem for him grew as artists of the 1950s and 1960s found inspiration in his unorthodox attitudes toward art-making. His greatest legacy lies in his questioning, admonishment, critique, and playful ridicule of existing norms in order to transcend the status quo.
Duchamp was born in Normandy in 1887 to a family of artists, counting painter Jacques Villon, Cubist sculptor Raymond Duchamp-Villon and Dada artist Suzanne Duchamp-Crotti among his siblings. He received academic training at the Académie Julian in 1904–05 and his first works reveal the influence of Henri Matisse. In the early 1910s, he created his personal brand of Cubism, which culminated in Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912), a painting that caused a sensation at the 1913 New York Armory Show.
For most of his life, Duchamp divided his time between France and the USA, living mainly in New York from 1915–23 and then in Paris from 1923–42, before returning to New York. He became a naturalised American citizen in 1955. His first one-man exhibition was held at the Arts Club of Chicago in 1937, followed by his first American retrospective at the Pasadena Art Museum in 1963, and his first European survey at the Tate Gallery, London in 1966. Since his death in 1968, Duchamp's work has been the subject of countless exhibitions and can be found in the permanent collections of the most important museums worldwide. The Philadelphia Museum of Art has the most extensive holdings of his work, due to a generous donation by the Arensbergs, who were his lifelong friends and patrons.
2023
Marcel Duchamp and the Lure of the Copy, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy
2022
Marcel Duchamp: L.H.O.O.Q., Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
Marcel Duchamp, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany
2021
Please Touch: Marcel Duchamp and the Fetish, cur. Paul B. Franklin, Thaddaeus Ropac, London, UK; Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris Marais, France
2020
Hanging for 20 years of the Prix Marcel Duchamp 2020, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Marcel Duchamp: The Barbara and Aaron Levine Collection, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., USA
Marcel Duchamp - baptism, Kunsthalle Marcel Duchamp | The Forestay Museum of Art, Cully, Switzerland
DUCHAMP THREADS THE NEEDLE, David Nolan Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Marcel Duchamp und der Jura, Musée de l'Hôtel-Dieu, Porrentruy, Switzerland
2019
MARCEL DUCHAMP: Das Unmögliche sehen, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart; Staatliches Museum Schwerin, Schwerin, Germany
2018
Marcel Duchamp. 100 Fragen. 100 Antworten., Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
The Essential Duchamp, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
2017
Curatorial Studies 12: The 100th Anniversary of Duchamp's Fountain, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
2016
Porte-Bouteilles, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
MARCEL DUCHAMP. Dada e Neo-Dada, Museo Comunale d'Arte Moderna, Ascona, Switzerland
The Slope of a Line – 100 Jahre Readymade, Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2015
The Duchamp Effect, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA, USA
2014
Marcel Duchamp, MMCA Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece
What Marcel Duchamp Taught Me, The Fine Art Society, London, UK
Marcel Duchamp – La Peinture Même, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2013
Rural Readymade, University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Canada
Duchamp: Re-Made in Italy, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy
DUCHAMP and/or/in CHINA, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Surrealism & Duchamp, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Marcel Duchamp, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy
2012
Marcel Duchamp in Munich 1912, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich; Kunstbau, Munich, Germany
Marcel Duchamp, Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH, USA
Duchamp the Messenger, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Marcel Duchamp: Le mystère de Munich, Architecture Museum of TU, Munich, Germany
Marcel Duchamp – A Game in A Game, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
2011
Focus Gallery: Marcel Duchamp, Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL, USA
Lost and Found, Lubeznik Center for the Arts, Michigan City, MI, USA
Marcel Duchamp, Moderna Museet Malmö, Malmö, Sweden
Marcel Duchamp, Belle Haleine: Eau de Voilette, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
2009
Marcel Duchamp: Chess Master, Saint Louis University Museum of Art, St. Louis, MO, USA
Marcel Duchamp: Étant donnés, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Frank Hesse. De ou par Marcel Duchamp, Stiftung Kunstfonds, Bonn, Germany
Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA
2008
Marcel Duchamp Redux, Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena, CA, USA
Marcel Duchamp: Una obra que no es una obra de arte, Fundacion PROA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Marcel Duchamp: A work is not a work of art, Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil
2007
Marcel, Marcel, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KT, USA
Spinning Straw, Masterworks Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2006
Marcel Duchamp, Museo di Villa Croce, Genoa, Italy
2004
Mirrorical Returns: Marcel Duchamp and the 20th Century Art, National Museum of Art, Osaka; Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan
2003
Marcel Duchamp – Druckgraphik, Sammlung Hummel, Vienna, Austria
2002
Marcel Duchamp, Museum Jean Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland
Marcel Duchamp, Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, Germany
2001
MARCEL DUCHAMP: ARTIST–HUMORIST–PHILOSOPHER, California State University, University Art Gallery, Long Beach, CA, USA
9 Objects: A Tribute to Marcel Duchamp, Hollywood Centre, Hong Kong
Leading Lights of the 20th Century. Marcel Duchamp, Seen by Adrián Alemán and José Jiménez, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
1995
Marcel Duchamp, Respirateur, Staatliches Museum Schwerin, Schwerin, Germany
1994
Marcel Duchamp. To and From the Large Glass, Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
1993
Marcel Duchamp, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy
1991
Marcel Duchamp. Graphics, Bigi Art Space, Kyoto, Japan
1988
Übrigens sterben immer die anderen: Marcel Duchamp, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
Marcel Duchamp, 'Fountain', Menil Foundation, Houston, TX, USA
Marcel Duchamp, la Sposa…e i Readymade, Accademia di Belle Arti di Bretra, Milan, Italy
1987
Marcel Duchamp. Das grafische Werk, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
Marcel Duchamp. Readymades. Estampes. Répliques, Genia Schreier University Art Gallery, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Marcel Duchamp: 19a. Bienal Internacional de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Marcel Duchamp als Zeitmaschine, Museum Hedendaagse Kunst, Utrecht, Netherlands
Apropos of Marcel Duchamp 1887/1987, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, USA
1986
Marcel Duchamp, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
1985
Marcel Duchamp's Notes, Fine Arts Gallery, School of Visual Arts, Florida State University, Miami, FL, USA
1984
Duchamp, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona; Caja de Pensiones, Madrid, Spain
Marcel Duchamp. Works from the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL, USA
1982
Marcel Duchamp. La Pendule de Profile, Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, France
1981
Marcel Duchamp, Seibu Takanawa, Karuizawa; Seibu Bijutsukan, Tokyo, Japan
1977
Marcel Duchamp, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
1975
The 'Large Glass' and Related Works, Taylor Hall Art Gallery, California State University, Chico, CA, USA
1974
Marcel Duchamp. A Retrospective Exhibition, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
1973
La Delicata Scacchiera. Marcel Duchamp, Palazzo Reale, Naples, Italy
1972
Marcel Duchamp. Drawings and Etchings for the 'Large Glass', Readymades, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
1968
Marcel Duchamp. The Mary Sisler Collection. 78 Works 1904–1963, National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum, Wellington; Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand; Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Western Australia Art Gallery, Perth, Australia
1966
The Almost Complete Works of Marcel Duchamp, Tate Gallery, London, UK
1964
Marcel Duchamp, Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld, Germany
1963
Marcel Duchamp. A Retrospective Exhibition, Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, CA, USA
1960
Marcel Duchamp, Bokkonsu, Stockholm, Sweden
Dokumentation über Marcel Duchamp, Kunstgewerbemuseum, Zürich, Switzerland
1959
Sur Marcel Duchamp, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, UK
1952
Marcel Duchamp, Amici della Francia, Milan, Italy
1937
Exhibition of Paintings by Marcel Duchamp, Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
France
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Paris
Israel
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
UK
Tate, London
USA
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Menil Collection, Houston, TX
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA