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| Duchamp in 1963 with readymade, Bicycle Wheel |
The art of Marcel Duchamp is not for everyone, but it is for me. Truly, his art underlines the medieval saying De gustibus non disputandum est, “There’s no point arguing about taste.” While not having any surveys at hand, I suspect that most people wouldn’t be enthusiastic about his efforts.
That’s fine; those of us who like what he did can do so in any case.
So, what did Duchamp bring to the table of Art history? Humor. Satire. Scandal even. And the latter because of his attitude about his work as much as the art itself. When transport of The Large Glass caused both panes to fracture, he thought that it completed the work, noting the symmetry of the breaks.
This does not mean that he wasn’t serious about what he did, not at all. Looking at the body of work, it is clear that he took pains to create ever so precisely whether it was 2-D or 3-D pieces. Of course, the ready-mades—bottle-racks, snow shovels, etc.—don’t fit that at all, as Duchamp thumbed his nose at what critics considered taste.
Aside from his art, Duchamp loved chess. I can’t recall the quote exactly, but he commented something as “All chess players are artists, but not all artists are chess players.” He even made his own chess pieces. As someone who enjoys the game, this is just one more reason for me to admire him.
I do not have to like everything Duchamp did to appreciate him, but I do like most of his art. His portable galleries that consisted of his hand-made reproductions of his work are intriguing in themselves; I did not know he made so many of these.
Walking throughout the exhibit, I realized that I was smiling most of the time. Whether it was because I was close to laughing or simply happy is hard to say; maybe both? Anyway, I’m not sure I can say that about any other show I have ever attended.
Opening on April 12, the Duchamp show is at the Museum of Modern Art and runs to August 22.
