Marcel Duchamp

In 1912, the artist Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) began to question his occupation. He decided at the age of twenty-five to abandon the craft of oil painting. He also strove to make himself aloof from the art world in order to work as he pleased. Duchamp went on to become one of the most innovative and original figures in the history of modern art. Across six decades, he was associated with Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism. Yet Duchamp's practice was one of continuous self-reinvention, impossible to categorize under any label.

The first major U.S. retrospective dedicated to Marcel Duchamp in more than 50 years, this exhibition will explore the range and arc of this artist’s illustrious career. 'Marcel Duchamp' will feature a chronological display of more than 300 works of painting, sculpture, film, photography, printed matter, exhibition design, and the unclassifiable works known as readymades. It will present Duchamp's most renowned creations, including the provocative 'Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2)' (1912); his magnum opus, 'The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even' (1915-23); the iconoclastic 'Fountain' (1917) and 'L.H.O.O.Q.' (1919); 'Box in a Valise' (1935-41), the artist’s portable museum of his own creations in miniature; and 'Étant donnés' (1946-66), Duchamp’s final major work in which he reflected upon his lifelong artistic obsessions.

Following its presentation at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York from April 12 through August 22, 2026, the exhibition will be on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from October 10, 2026, through January 31, 2027. A version of the exhibition will be presented in Spring 2027 at the Grand Palais in Paris, where it will be co-produced by the Centre Pompidou and the GrandPalaisRMN.