Description
Send your own message about art on this postcard of Duchamp's land mark readymade sculpture.
Duchamp's Fountain is among the most notorious artworks of the twentieth century. Duchamp didn't make Fountain. It was a manufactured object – an ordinary urinal purchased in a hardware store. He called this type of work "readymade," borrowing a term for clothing sold ready-to-wear rather than made-to-order. Readymades changed the ordinary rules of creation, and Duchamp considered them his greatest achievement.The original Fountain was lost shortly after being rejected from an exhibition in April 1917. The version at the Philadelphia Museum of Art was purchased at a Paris flea market in 1950 by the art dealer Sidney Janis for a show at his New York gallery. Duchamp approved that Fountain and later signed and dated it "R. Mutt 1917."
About the Work: Fountain is among the most infamous artworks of the twentieth century. Yet, the original was lost shortly after it was submitted to the Society of Independent Artists’ first exhibition in April 1917 and rejected by the hanging committee. The work became known later as an icon of New York Dada primarily through replicas, which Duchamp created first in miniature for his Box in a Valise (1935–41, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1950-134-934). Then in 1950, for the exhibition Challenge and Defy at the Sidney Janis Gallery, he authorized Janis to purchase this urinal secondhand in Paris and added his original inscription. This was the version of Fountain seen by Cage, Rauschenberg, and many others in exhibitions throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
- Museum exclusive
- 4" x 6"
- Paper 110 lb card-stock thickness
- Made in the USA
