Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp, or simply Marcel Duchamp, was a French artist born on the Thursday of July 28 1887, who created his artworks mainly with the focus of Dadaist and Surrealist movements. He was a multi-skilled artist, who through his works and ultramodern thinking, continues to motivate people, and helps them express their vision through something unmatchable and memorable.
Marcel Duchamp is acknowledged as a versatile and a valuable contributor to the fields of painting, sculpture, and films, while also being appreciated for his brilliant performances at the game of chess. 1920 onwards, he collaborated with several renown artists to create, reproduce, or exhibit his several artworks.
Painting
Duchamp was a person who believed strictly in action rather than words. This broad thinking artist believed that an innovative work is the result of both, the artist and the viewer. According to him, spectators extract the real meaning, expression, and talent from artists & their artworks, and interpret it to the whole world. The influence of Marcel Duchamp can be adequately witnessed on many budding modern artists.
Marcel was born as one of the seven children to his father, Eugene Duchamp, a semi public official of significant local stature, and mother, Lucie Duchamp. Out of the seven children the couple had, one died as an infant and four, including Marcel Duchamp, grew to become well-known artists. Marcel Duchamp's family was deeply artistic in inclination and shared interests in music, art, literature, and other cultural activities. Creativity was in Duchamp's blood, especially as far as painting was concerned. His maternal grandfather, Emile Nicolle, was a painter and an engraver. Apart from Marcel, the painter, Jacques Villon became a painter & a printmaker, Raymond Duchamp-Villon a sculptor, and Suzanne Duchamp-Crotti went on to be a painter.
Marcel was a strong supporter of Dadaism. He started his career as a painter and most of his creations were touched by Fauvism. He also built up a Cubist painting style, which was quite alike Futurism. Marcel obliterated the borders between art and the objects of everyday use. Being not a conservative artist he became a torchbearer of revolutionary art and developed several eminent paintings. He became a glare of publicity with his painting, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912). This painting shows the movement of a single figure in successive superimposed stages, going down the stairs. This painting of Marcel Duchamp created international sensation and was exhibited in Barcelona in May 1912 after it was rejected by Salon des Indépendents in Paris. The painting created controversy in 1913 Armory Show in N.Y.C.
Unfazed Duchamp was a unique artist, who could transform the ready-mades and the objects of daily use into worthy artworks. One of his much-admired works, "Fountain" is based on ceramic urinal. Some other works of his include, "In Advance of a Broken Arm" consisting of an old snow shovel, and kinetic art like, "Bicycle Wheel," which has a metal wheel mounted on a stool. Marcel Duchamp attained stunning success by his conceptual work entailing positioning wire and foil between glass, called "The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors" and "Even" (1923), also known as "The Large Glass."
The legendary Marcel Duchamp took his last breath on the Wednesday of October 02, 1968, in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France. He was buried in the Rouen Cemetery, in Rouen, Normandy, France.
The Artistic Splendors and the Stupors of Marcel Duchamp
Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Is is also a venue for artists to display and sell their art . Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited. Please visit the website at http://www.labedzki-art.com