Book Description

This book brings together for the first time Moira Roth's influential articles, lectures and interviews on the two men who embodied the very spirit of the avant-garde: Marcel Duchamp and John Cage.
Cage, who died in 1992, and Duchamp, who died in 1968, seemed to live on the permissive border of modernism, and later, of postmodernism. The artists have for almost thirty years fascinated, irritated, inspired, and daunted the author of these essays - Moira Roth.
At first they were an inspiration for her writing and teaching then, with their gradual transformation into 'classical' figures, she felt compelled to reconsider and re-evaluate them. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great!
The more you read, the more you can enter into Duchamp's world! This one must definitly be one in your Duchamp's collection. Make yourself "READY MADE" ... Read more

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Humor, Wit, and Genius
Bicycle wheel on stool. A urinal. A bottle rack. A comb. A mustached Mona Lisa. And other sordid odds and ends. Though his "Readymades" continue to shock the public as monstrosities to the art world, very few know the story behind the wit and audacity that is Marcel Duchamp. In this exhaustive album of Duchamp's oeuvre, Naumann gives compassion to "Duchamp's things," objects crucified by indifference and imperception, through his stunning layout of text and colored figures; the book itself is truly an aesthetic masterpiece. Albeit an art historian, Naumann does not digress into meditations on esoterica. Rather, he examines Duchamp's letters, interviews, speeches, notes, writings, and other primary source evidence to construct an enlightening and entertaining interpretation for each and every one of Duchamp's masterpieces. Exploring the philosophical questions at play in each work, Naumann explains to us Duhcamp's ideal of art and answers convincingly why the artist provocateur felt the need to abandon the jurisdiction of Taste and Aesthetics. For anyone brave enough to be enlightened about the complexity of a urinal or the phonetic pun behind L.H.O.O.Q (the mustached Mona Lisa), I urge you not to only read this book but to perceive it in its entirety. ... Read more

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The Beginning of My Love Affair with Duchamp
This book is highly recommended. The information available within the covers is something that I could not find in my art history book. The reader will gain insight into Duchamp's views and his thoughts leading up to his decisions to take the road, artistically, that he did. Wonderfully written, glorious color photos and beautiful insights, I would recommend this book to anyone looking to add to a library. ... Read more

Book Description

A one-time Fauvist, Cubist, Dadaist, and Surrealist, but an eternal chess player, Marcel Duchamp remains the avant-garde figure beyond all avant-garde figures of the past century. Provocative and brilliant, he radically challenged and changed accepted notions of art and its manufacture, and of the relationship between art and life. Marcel Duchamp, published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Jean Tinguely Museum in Basel under the curatorship of Harald Szeeman, endeavors to trace the different periods of Duchamp's oeuvre by means of a selection of his work focused mainly on those aspects that influenced Tinguely's own oeuvre. Additionally, the publication contains statements by Duchamp and essays by renowned Duchamp scholars on such topics as the emergence and development of the ready-made concept and its impact on the art of the 1960s.

Unless a picture shocks, it is nothing. --Marcel Duchamp
The individual, man as a man, man as a brain, if you like, interests me more than what he makes, because I've noticed that most artists only repeat themselves. --Marcel Duchamp

Essays by Harald Szeeman, Dieter Daniels, Herbert Molderings and Jacques Caumont.

Clothbound, 9.5 x 11 in., 232 pages, 70 color and 130 b&w. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Joseph Cornell/Marcel Duchamp... In Resonance is a beautiful catalog of works by both of the artists, accompanied by eight essays that explore their work and their relationship. These essays include marvelous anecdotes and information about both the personal and artistic lives of the artists and how deeply they influenced one another. Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) was a somewhat reclusive American artist from Queens, New York, who was known for his small theatrical box constructions. Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) was born in France and was an integral part of the avant-garde art world--he is often called the father of contemporary art. The focus of the book revolves around the "Duchamp Dossier," a varied collection of objects from Duchamp that Cornell collected. "There's no way of knowing whether the dossier was made in collaboration with Duchamp or whether Duchamp knew of it at all, although it seems likely that he may have suspected it existed. It contained various things that Duchamp had clearly given to Cornell." The complete contents of the dossier are reproduced in this volume at 60 percent of their actual size.

What is so fascinating about the dossier is that it is something of a physical map of the interactions between Cornell and Duchamp. Along with the photo reproductions there is a complete and extremely detailed inventory of the dossier, including such information as the text of letters and type of postage. Also in the book is a comprehensive chronology of the lives of both artists. The book, a hefty 344 pages, includes 126 color plates and 320 halftone images. --Jennifer Cohen ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Enthralling.
Duchamp is undeniably intriguing. His art has covered numerous styles, forms, concepts, etc.. His hermetic, curious existence is fascinating as well, and thanks to some of the essays in this wonderful book, new perspective is shown. Joseph Cornell's art never made the same impact as Duchamp, but it really can't be argued that he is extremely talented. It's hard to give a decent review of this. I've found it to be one of the most fascinating books about art ever, which is an incredibly hard task.

Cornell/Duchamp "Collaboration"
This book is the catalogue for an exhibition on the intersection of the works of Duchamp and Cornell, specifically the "Duchamp Dossier," a peculiar collection of art and trash that Cornell kept on a shelf in his house. Since it was not discovered until after his death, one can only guess whether he considered it an art piece, though he was known for compiling such "explorations," as he called them, throughout his life. The book contains a large number of beautiful color plates of both artists' work, though many of Duchamp's major pieces are not reproduced (the Cornell plates are more comprehensive). The accompanying texts are not dense critiques but, for the most part, anecdotal narratives with the occasional interpretive aside. For such a large book, it was a fast read and very entertaining. The two artists in question are visual poets rather than painters per se, and there are many creative similarities between them despite their wholly different lifestyles and personalities. Worth buying if you are a Duchamp fanatic like myself, especially for the images.

Best Compilation Yet
I haven't actually bought this book yet, in hopes of receiving it for Christmas, but I spent an indordinant amount of time looking at it in a bookstore - and even went back to admire it again. I love Joseph Cornell's work, and have perused all available volumes with pictures of his artwork, and this is the most complete and beautiful. His shadow boxes are displayed one per page - page after page, which is such a treat! I'm also a Marcel DuChamp fan and think it's genius to combine their work in one book. The likenesses and juxtapositions are facinating, and make this compilation a must have. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Marcel Duchamp interviewed late in life.
This interview with Marcel Duchamp by Pierre Cabanne provides clarity to the myth that surrounds Duchamp and his non art. Duchamp gave the interview about 2 years before his death. He answers directly and in context the meaning of his work and non work. Others books attempt to tell us not only what his production means but try to tell us what his words mean as well. This books makes clear that Duchamp did not like the art world (although he used it to his advantage), he did not like art that appealed to the eye, he did not make art, he amused himself making objects and he played games. Its an honest interview and needs no interpreters. You can understand the valve of this mans ideas and what they mean to current conceptual art. Or is it conceptual non art. ... Read more

Book Description

This expanded edition of the fall 1994 special issue of October includes new essays by Sarat Maharaj and by Molly Nesbit and Naomi Sawelson-Gorse. It also includes the transcript of an exchange between T. J. Clark and Benjamin Buchloh which presents new responses to the problems raised by this immediately popular (and now out of print) issue of the journal.

The Duchamp Effect is an investigation of the historical reception of the work of Marcel Duchamp from the 1950s to the present, including interviews by Benjamin Buchloh (with Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, and Robert Morris), Elizabeth Armstrong (with Ed Ruscha and Bruce Conner), and Martha Buskirk (with Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, and Fred Wilson) and a round-table discussion of the Duchamp effect on conceptual art.

Contents

IntroductionBenjamin H. D. Buchloh
What's Neo about the Neo-Avant-Garde?Hal Foster
Typotranslating the Green BoxSarat Maharaj
Three Conversations in 1985: Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, Robert MorrisBenjamin H. D. Buchloh
Interviews with Ed Ruscha and Bruce ConnerElizabeth Armstrong
Echoes of the Readymade: Critique of Pure ModernismThierry de Duve
Concept of Nothing: New Notes by Marcel Duchamp and Walter ArensbergMolly Nesbit and Naomi Sawelson-Gorse
Interviews with Sherrie Levine, Louis Lawler, and Fred WilsonMartha Buskirk
Thoroughly Modern Marcel , Martha Buskirk
Conceptual Art and the Reception of DuchampOctober Round Table
All the Things I Said about Duchamp: A Response to Benjamin BuchlohT. J. Clark
Response to T. J. ClarkBenjamin Buchloh ... Read more

Book Description

These eleven illustrated essays explore the structure and meaning of Duchamp's work as part of an ongoing critical enterprise that has just begun. ... Read more

Book Description

"Thierry de Duve has sought, in this remarkable text, to 'understand why Marcel Duchamp was such a great artist.' A task that calls upon resources beyond those of art history, art criticism, and aesthetic analysis, of all which the author is master. . . . The tone is wry, urbane, informed, and urgent; and it is a tribute to his appreciation of the depth of his subject that he takes us further in our understanding than we have ever seen before, but leaves us with the sense that more remains to be said than anyone before had imagined." -- Arthur C. Danto, Johnsonian Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Columbia University; and art critic, The Nation

Kant after Duchamp brings together eight essays around a central thesis with many implications for the history of the avant-gardes. Although Duchamps readymades broke with all previously known styles, Thierry de Duve observes that he made the logic of modernist art practice the subject matter of his work, a shift in aesthetic judgment that replaced the classical "this is beautiful" with "this is art." De Duve employs this shift in a re-reading of Kant's Critique of Judgment that reveals the hidden links between the radical experiments of Duchamp and the Dadaists and mainstream pictorial modernism. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Kant was a Lutheran
What's missing in this marvelous book is a discussion of Kant's Lutheran religious aspect. Most philosophers treat him as a secular philosopher, but he wasn't. The assault on Christianity by the entire left has seemingly eclipsed the fact that all of the great 19th century thinkers were Lutherans: Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, of course, but also Nietzsche (who was raised as a Lutheran and whose seventeen prior generations of father, grandfather, etc., had been Lutheran pastors), Marx raised in a Lutheran household, and so on.

What Duchamp does is knock out the otherworldly purposiveness that Kant claimed for art. Thierry de Duve aborts the seriousness of his discussion by neglecting the theological dimension of Kant's inquiry.

However, this is still a great book albeit a limited one, as he could have gone further to the heart of the culture wars by contrasting the Sadean nature of the surrealist enterprise with the Christian nature of the Kantian.

Subliminal
A difficult question posed and a difficult answer given. In struggling with two of the most influential personnas in our culture, De Duve does himself, and aesthetics good. Long and convoluted (to the extreme of working out a symbolic logic of Duchamp?) this is nonetheless a great book ... Read more

Book Description

Since 1914 Marcel Duchamp has been called all of these. No artist of the twentieth century has aroused more passion and controversy, nor exerted a greater influence on art--the very essence of which Duchamp challenged and redefined as concept rather than product by questioning its traditionally privileged optical nature. At the same time, he never ceased to be engaged, openly or secretly, in provocative and enigmatic activities and works that transformed traditional art-making procedures. This definitive monograph, written with the enthusiastic support of Duchamp's widow, challenges received ideas, misunderstandings, and misinformation ... Read more

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Marcel Duchamp was cooler and smarter than all of us
Duchamp was such an amazing man. He was a genius and waaaay ahead of his time. If you want some insight into what makes an original, brilliant man tick, read this! ... Read more

Book Description

Surrealism in its late phase often abandoned neutral exhibition spaces in favor of environments that embodied subjective ideologies. These exhibitions offered startled viewers an early version of installation art before the form existed as such. In Displaying the Marvelous, Lewis Kachur explores this development by analyzing three elaborate Surrealist installations created between 1938 and 1942. The first two, the "Exposition Internationale du Surralisme" (1938) and the "Dream of Venus" at the New York World's Fair (1939), dealt with the fetishization of the female body. The third, "First Papers of Surrealism" (1942), focused not on the figure but on the entire expanse of the exhibition space, thus contributing to the development of nonfigurative art in New York. Kachur presents a full visual and verbal reconstruction of each of the exhibitions, evoking the sequence that the contemporary viewer would have encountered.

The book considers Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dal, two artists who are not usually compared, within a common framework. Duchamp specialized in frustrating the spectator, using his ironic wit to call into question the definition of the work of art. Dal was a master at disorienting the senses by establishing and then undermining everyday spatial and object properties. The Surrealist challenge, as voiced by Andr Breton, was to evoke the marvelous. Duchamp and Dal extended that challenge to the physical and commercial realm of the exhibition installation. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Duchamp is very good curator
I have never read like the book about Marcel Duchamp, because the book focuses on the side of the curator of Duchamp. The book is about the Surrealist exihibitions in 1930's and 1940's. And the backgrounds of the exhibitions are very detailed and lively. I recommend the book to those who like, of course, Duchamp and are interested in installation.

scholarship and humor
Written with keen perception and humor, Lewis Kachur's latest book is likely to become a classic both in the fields of surrealism and of installations. It is scholarly and highly readable. ... Read more

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For the Academics
Joselit's study of Duchamp is a top-notch academic book and for the non art history buffs, it will certainly be a challenging read. Joselit's vocabulary is immense and sophisticated and without direct references to the reproductions included in the text (ie. Nude Decending a Staircase, figure 1, p. 33) his assertations can be hard to follow. For those already familiar with Duchamp and his art, this book will take your knowledge to the next level. Joselit is an incredible modern scholar.

A work of impeccable scholarship
Thorough, rigorous and provocative. Joselit provides fresh insight into the intellectual basis of Duchamp's work and arrives at some startling conclusions, but never makes any flying leaps of his own-- his results stem from careful research and solid analysis. Jammin'! ... Read more

Book Description

Writings on one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, by some of its most celebrated writers and artists: Jasper Johns, Octavio Paz, John Cage, and more.

Best known for his cheeky conceptual works-like his signed urinals ("R. Mutt") and his graffitioed Mona Lisa-Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) was also an extraordinary painter and sculptor (Nude Descending a Staircase) who changed the language of twentieth-century art and reigns with Picasso and Matisse as one of its greatest influences. Joseph Masheck has compiled a sampler of the best writing on Duchamp, with pieces that include Duchamp's obituary from Artforum, written by Jasper Johns; Octavio Paz on the ready-mades; a Duchamp post-mortem by Hans Richter; Donald Judd's investigation of Rose Sélavy; a "Counter-Avant-Garde" by Clement Greenberg; a consideration by Guillaume Apollinaire; and John Cage's "26 Statements on Marcel Duchamp." Illustrated with photographs of Duchamp's seminal pieces, and updated with a substantial preface that offers new scholarship as well as a fascinating consideration of why Duchamp's popularity has exponentially increased since this book first appeared, this is an essential volume for the Duchamp devotee. ... Read more

Book Description

Edited by Kornelia von Berswordt-Wallrabe. Essays by Kornelia von Bersworldt-Wallrabe, Gerhard Graulich, and Herbert Molderings.

"Marcel Duchamp has influenced the art of the 20th century more than anyone else except Pablo Picasso. One can reasonably claim that without his work, art history would have taken a different course," writes Herbert Molderings in his essay on Marcel Duchamp as sculptor. His readymades significantly expanded the notion of what art could be, an expansion of borders that was to have major consequences for the path of art later in the century. This beautifully designed book, a bibliophile's treasure, focuses on the structural basis of Marcel Duchamp's oeuvre, the intellectual attitude and the methods he developed to interrupt the utilitarian flow of objects. A selection of statements by Duchamp, printed on parchment paper, offers insight into his aesthetic concepts, and not least into the French artist's enigmatic wit and irony. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Duchamp Revelry
I am not a Duchamp scholar, just a big, big fan who has spent years pursuing my admiration of the artist, the prankster and the genius. This book revels in all three aspects of Duchamp's oeuvre not to mention it is a true joy to hold, read, touch. A bibliophile's appreciation combined with a scholarly interest make this book highly enjoyable and frankly, lots of fun. For the German scholar, all articles are printed in both their German as well as English translations. From an art historical perspective, the text is very well integrated with the presentation of artwork, which includes vellum overlays, making the experience interactive and a sensory delight. This is revelry in true Duchamp; his fun, whimsy and always revolving and diverging vision. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

p.s.
3) The full title of this book is: "Duchamp: love and death, even."

a thorough and helpful analysis
The Publisher's Weekly review doesn't accurately give readers the flavor of this excellent book. Ramirez's is the only discussion of Etant Donnes I've encountered which accounts for a full range of interpretations of the work (including the one the Publisher's Weekly reviewer holds). Ramirez places Duchamp and his work (not just Large Glass and Etant Donnes) in historical and cultural context, connects the artist and the work with other artists and with popular culture of the time, and provides many details and illustrations which give readers an idea of how these pieces developed. The writing/translating style is direct and unpretentious, yet interesting and enjoyable to read. The research quality is high. The book is well-produced, and the number and quality of illustrations are very good. Overall, it is so thorough and helpful an addition to writings on Duchamp as to be nearly indispensable. Notes: 1) This book does not appear in an amazon.com search for "Marcel Duchamp," only for "Duchamp." 2) If you are looking for other writing by this author, the books are in Spanish and the last name is spelled "Ramairez." ... Read more

Book Description

Marcel Duchamp is a founding figure of twentieth-centuryart andculture, the common source to which many contemporary movements tracetheirroots. His career has often been celebrated for its contradictions anddiscontinuities, its disparate parts unified only by their assault onthetraditions of art. Jerrold Seigel offers a wholly different view,revealing aweb of interrelated themes that unify Duchamp's work and tie it to hislife. At the book's center is a reinterpretation of the famous "readymades,"of whichthe urinal "Fountain" and the defaced Mona Lisa were the most shocking.Byrecovering their history, Seigel shows that their playful and rebellioussurfaceveiled the meanings that linked them to Duchamp's pictures (especiallythefamous "Large Glass," here illuminated by a comprehensive new reading)and tohis experiments with language. The result gives the artist's career theunity ofa colorful and intricate puzzle. Behind that puzzle were the great modernist themes of isolation,perpetuateddesire, and the imagined dissolution of the self. These themes enteredDuchamp'smind both from his social and cultural environment and from the shapingexperience of his family; around them were woven the patterns of workingandloving that Seigel uncovers in his life. Duchamp emerges not just as acoherent,understandable personality, but as an exemplary one, his veryeccentricitiesreflecting essential dimensions of modern experience. A mythic presence in modern culture, a hero whose story we tell for thesake ofits valuable lessons, Duchamp opened the floodgates to a sea ofquestions aboutthe nature and meaning of art. Seigel demands that we think again aboutthesequestions, and about the answers that Duchamp's heirs and followers havetriedto give to them. ... Read more

Book Description

The oeuvre Duchamp left us is small and repeatedly subject to multiple interpretations of the art historical, psychological, socio-critical and alchemical persuasion. And yet, how odd: Duchamp's last painting, Tu m' from 1918, has never drawn extensive attention among his exegetes. The title itself poses a riddle: Does it mean "tu m'aimes" (you love me), "tu m'embêtes" (you bore me) or "tu m'emmerdes" (you can kiss my ass)? Karl Gerstner, a prominent Swiss graphic designer who knew Duchamp personally, was taken aback the first time he saw Tu m', but also intrigued. Having acquired a reproduction of the picture, Gerstner proceeded to penetrate its meanings and surfaces more and more deeply; as his surprise faded, his fascination grew. Enter this book, encouraged by artist Richard Hamilton (perhaps the most intimate of Duchamp connoisseurs), and its 20 analytical essays of riddle-solving. Essay by Karl Gerstner. Hardcover, 8 x 11.5 in./55 pgs / 25 color 0 BW0 duotone 0 ~ Item D20057 ... Read more

Book Description

A fascinating book demonstrating the influence of alchemy and esoteric traditions on the mature art of Marcel Duchamp. ... Read more