Marcel Duchamp: Homages, Variations, Imitations

Of all early 20th century artists, Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) stands out as perhaps the one who had the most influence on the generation of artists that rose to fame at the end of the century. With the rejection of art that appealed only to the eye for an art about ideas; the invention of the readymades—objects elevated to art by the simple act of selection and naming; and, the provocative use of irony and humor, Duchamp opened the way for conceptual art, performance, appropriation, and many other radical directions that a half-century later became mainstream.

Gallery 98’s collection of Duchamp-related art ephemera, documents his impact following his retrospective at the Pasadena Museum of Art in 1963. It is not just about Duchamp’s influence on specific artists like Mike Bidlo, Hannah Wilke, and Elaine Sturtevant; it is also about the enduring popularity and ubiquity of his distinctive motifs: the upside-down urinal, Mona Lisa with a mustache and goatee, the bicycle wheel and stool, Duchamp in drag, and the photo of Duchamp at a table playing chess with a nude woman.

See more on our special Marcel Duchamp page.

Mocking the iconic Mona Lisa, Duchamp altered a found reproduction by adding a mustache and goatee, and the letters L.H.O.O.Q which when pronounced in French sounds like a French phrase that translates into “She has a hot ass.”

Duchamp achieved early notoriety in America at the original 1913 Armory Show. When a new art fair resurrected the Armory Show name, organizers publicized the event by using a picture of Duchamp’s most radical readymade, an upside-down urinal signed R. Mutt.

This xeroxed invitation incorporates a detail from Duchamp’s Monte Carlo Bond (1924), an artwork that doubled as a certificate showing ownership of shares in a company designed to “break the bank” at Monte Carlo.

This painted satire of a Playboy magazine cover features a variation of a famous photograph of Duchamp playing chess with a nude Eve Babitz at his retrospective exhibition at the Pasadena Art Museum in 1963.

The photograph of Duchamp playing chess with a naked Eve Babitz was recreated in a performance by artist Hannah Wilke who takes the role of his nude opponent.

After successfully recreating works by Jackson Pollock and Pablo Picasso, artist Mike Bidlo turned his attention to Duchamp. The exhibition Not-Duchamp featured Bidlo’s versions of famous Duchamp readymades including the Bottle Rack (1914), Fountain (urinal), and the Bicycle Wheel (1913).

Video pioneer Shigeko Kubota created her video sculpture series Duchampiana after a chance meeting with the artist right before his death in 1968.

See more on our special Marcel Duchamp page.