Step by Step
1
Nude Descending a Staircase
Painted in 1912, this work drew on multiple-exposure photography and Cubism, causing a scandal at the 1913 Armory Show in New York.
2
Readymades
Duchamp pioneered the concept of readymades — mass-produced objects selected and designated as art, requiring no traditional craftsmanship. Examples include Bicycle Wheel (1913), Bottle Rack, and Fountain (an ordinary urinal, 1917).
3
The Large Glass and L.H.O.O.Q.
The Large Glass (also called The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even), created 1915–1923, actually cracked during transport — Duchamp accepted this accident as part of the work rather than repairing it. L.H.O.O.Q. (1919) presented the Mona Lisa with a mustache added.
4
Chess and alter-ego
Around 1923, Duchamp largely gave up making art to pursue chess seriously. He also created a female alter-ego, Rrose Sélavy, used for puns and wordplay. His influence extended to Dada, Conceptual art, Pop art, and essentially any movement questioning the very definition of art.
Applied Walkthrough
1
Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase, drawing on both multiple-exposure photography and Cubism, caused a genuine scandal when exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show in New York.
2
Just a few years later, Duchamp pushed the boundaries of art even further with his readymades — ordinary, mass-produced objects like a bicycle wheel or, most famously, an ordinary urinal titled Fountain, simply selected and designated as art rather than crafted by hand.
3
When The Large Glass cracked during transport after years of painstaking work, Duchamp made the remarkable decision to accept the accident as part of the finished piece, rather than attempting to repair it.
4
Around 1923, having thoroughly challenged conventional definitions of art, Duchamp largely abandoned art-making altogether to pursue chess seriously — a move consistent with his lifelong interest in wordplay and paradox, embodied in his female alter-ego Rrose Sélavy, and cementing his influence on Dada, Conceptual art, and Pop art for decades to come.
Exam Application
Exams test whether you know Duchamp's key works (Nude Descending a Staircase, the readymades, The Large Glass, L.H.O.O.Q.), and whether you understand the concept of a readymade and its radical implications for defining what counts as art.
⚠ Common Trap
The most common trap is assuming a readymade required some artistic modification or craftsmanship — the entire radical point of the readymade concept was that an ordinary, mass-produced object could become art simply through the artist's act of selection and designation, without any physical alteration required.
✓ Quick Self-Check
1. What is a readymade, according to Duchamp?
A mass-produced object selected and designated as art, requiring no traditional craftsmanship or modification.
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2. Name two of Duchamp's readymades.
Any two of: Bicycle Wheel, Bottle Rack, Fountain.
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3. What happened to The Large Glass, and how did Duchamp respond?
It cracked during transport; Duchamp accepted the accident as part of the finished work.
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4. What is L.H.O.O.Q.?
A 1919 work presenting the Mona Lisa with a mustache added.
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5. What did Duchamp largely give up art-making to pursue, around 1923?
Chess.
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