Thoroughly Modern Marcel

Abstract

Given the tremendous resonance that Duchamp's work has had for artistic and critical practices since the 1950s, it has often been asked why he received so much less attention in the first half of the century. Perhaps a better question would be: What was there to receive? To what extent was any delay in the reception of the work, and particularly of the readymades, a function of delays in the construction of their meaning? And to what extent was the gesture of the readymade only retroactively solidified? While the increasing importance of Duchamp's work can be attributed in part to changes in the artistic context since the 1950s, an examination of the record reveals a precariousness in the existence of the readymades at times, as well as the extent of Duchamp's efforts both to organize their presentation and to minimize his own behind-the-scenes work in the formation of his oeuvre.