Marcel DuChamp
Introduction Marcel DuChamp was a French-American Dadaist-Surrealist Conceptual Artist who lived from 1887 to 1968. DuChamp can be accredited to being called “The Father of Dada” as he was the inspiring factor to the birth of that art concept. As an artist, DuChamp was a passionate force that strongly held on to his beliefs. ... Instead of the individual looking at a painting a vase and admiring the brush strokes, DuChamp created a vase, for example, that may be unidentifiable. ... DuChamp’s Surrealist art was often incomprehensible to the public, as that was his point, however he gained a large following from artists looking for a role model that did not conform to what society thought was acceptable. Background Marcel Duchamp was born July 28, 1887 in Blainville, France, near Rouen. He enjoyed a comfortable childhood in a family unusually sympathetic to the arts: his grandfather was an engraver, and three of his five siblings Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Jacques Villon, and Suzanne Valadon, became artists. Duchamp himself became an artist at age 15 as he started painting in the impressionist style, and adopted a more vibrantly colorful fauvist style by the age of 20. DuChamp was also a poet, painter, amateur filmmaker and chess player. ... Early Accomplishments • 1901--DuChamp draws Yvonne in kimono in watercolor, ink and pencil at 14 years old. • 1902—DuChamp creates Play?, Magna Quies, Yvonne; Church at Blainville; and Parva Domus1903—DuChamp draws his sister Suzanne on paper in colored pencil • 1904-1905—DuChamp creates a charcoal drawing Portrait of Jacques Villon, and draws The Knife-grinder in Indian ink and pencil on paper. ... Influential Works By 1911, DuChamp had joined the famous painters circle called the "Golden Section", whose members included Picabia, La Fresnaye, Léger, and Metzinger. "The Chess Players" was one of DuChamp’s first works that gained recognition because of its cubist similarities. ... The painting was criticized beyond comprehension, yet Duchamp was unfazed by it. ... DuChamp puzzled society with several pieces that were very unrelated and had no obvious symbolic value, as well as taking credit for a low-class landscape reproduction that was actually created by an unknown artist. DuChamp added some red and green patches of color to the landscape and renamed it "Pharmacy". "Ready-Mades" (Figure 4) were boring common objects like a snow-shovel and bottle holder that DuChamp named with unrelated titles to what they actually were.