Marcel Duchamp in Hollywood.
Photography captured by Beatrice Wood
Book called Marcel Duchamp: The Bachelor Stripped Bare: A biography
Published by MFA Publications, a division of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, ©2002.
Chapter: A Fond Memoir, Page 313.
After the lecture I made my way to the library and randomly took out the book Marcel Duchamp: The Bachelor Stripped Bare: The Biography. When flipping through the pages I came across a black and white picture of Marcel Duchamp in Hollywood. It was quite an intense photo, almost a portrait of the artist taken by a friend of his: Beatrice Wood.
The Armory Show (also called The International Exhibition of Modern Art) in February 17, 1913
Opened at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue in New York.
Smithsonian Institution Archives of American Art
Photographer: unknown
It was a surprising factor to find a French artist in the cosmopolitan American city, so I decided to look for “Marcel Duchamp in America”. An article in The New Yorker magazine caught my attention. There it explained how he became popular in this region and the purpose of his stay. Apparently, Duchamp’s “Nude descending the staircase”, a painting with cubist influence, was presented in one of the most significant shows ever held in the States: The Armory Show of 1913. Thanks to the enormous attention that his piece caught during this exhibition, Duchamp became well renowned.
The New-York Historical Society, a museum and library, explicitly created a website based solely on the Armory Show and its 100 year anniversary. Through this reliable source I gathered a considerable amount of data related to it and the impact it supposed on the society of the times and the development of future art practices. In fact, I found out thanks to a review in the New York Times that in 2013 the exhibition: The Armory Show at 100: Modern Art and Revolution was held. This show had historical purposes and brought back together some of the pieces that were originally displayed in 1913.
The Armory Show at 100.
Website created by the New York Historical Society, Museum and Library
Website Available at: http://armory.nyhistory.org/about/
Accessed on the 18th of October of 2017
Marcel Duchamp, as previously mentioned, was a participant of the show, however, I yet hadn’t had the opportunity to discover more about him. Through the website of Tate Modern, I found further information not only of his life and artworks, but also of his personal vocabulary when expressing and talking about his pieces (for example: readymades).
Apart from artists like the French, I came across others like Picasso and his Blue Nude painting in some press releases of the NY historical society. It was impressive being able to read the reactions of people of those times: “You know, she’s a nude. You can tell she’s a nude, but she’s in all of those colours you never imagined you would see on a woman before, she looks very primitive, almost childlike” (viewer talking about “Blue Nude”).
Quotes like this made me perceive the realness of these events and somehow made them more human and interesting. I deepened myself into history websites to see if there were any historic events that could explain the need of this radical change in art aesthetic, and there clearly was. By reading the online Encyclopaedia Britannica I realised that between 1914 and 1918 World War One took place. Such a conflict gave rise to a moment of great tension and chaos. This breaking of art had now more of an origin, and it made sense that Dadaism, the art movement that all these different artists belonged to had emerged in a neutral country such as Switzerland.
Bibliography (Books and Websites).
Marquis, A., 2002. Marcel Duchamp: The Bachelor Stripped Bare: A Bibliography. 1st ed. Boston: MFA Publications, a division of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The New Yorker. 2017. DUCHAMP AND NEW YORK | The New Yorker. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/11/25/duchamp-and-new-york [Accessed 12 October 2017].
Keats, J for Forbes Website. 2017. The Naughtiest Picture of 1913 ‘Nude Descending a Staircase’ Returns To New York City. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathonkeats/2013/11/05/the-naughtiest-picture-of-1913-nude-descending-a-staircase-returns-to-new-york-city/#525497556c45 [Accessed 12 October 2017].
The Armory Show at 100, 2017. The Armory Show at 100. [ONLINE] Available at: http://armory.nyhistory.org/. [Accessed 12 October 2017].
New-York Historical Society| Press Preview Event: The Armory Show at 100: Modern Art and Revolution On View at the New-York Historical Society October 11. 2017. New-York Historical Society| Press Preview Event: The Armory Show at 100: Modern Art and Revolution On View at the New-York Historical Society October 11.[ONLINE] Available at http://www.nyhistory.org/press/releases/press-preview-event-armory-show-100-modern-art-and-revolution-view-new-york-historica [Accessed 12 October 2017].
Dadaism- Art and Anti Art. 2017. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/dadaism.htm [Accessed on 18 October 2017].
Tate. 2017. Dada/ Readymade/ Marcel Duchamp – Art Term I Tate. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/d/dada [Accessed on 18 October 2017]
NPR. Org. 2017. “Armory Show” That Shocked America in 1913, Celebrates 100: NPR. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.npr.org/2013/02/17/172002686/armory-show-that-shocked-america-in-1913-celebrates-100. [Accessed on 18 October 2017]
Encyclopeadia Britannica. 2017. World War 1 I Facts & History I Britannica.com. [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I. [Accessed on 18 October 2017].