Collection: Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) was a French-American artist whose work fundamentally altered the course of twentieth-century art. His introduction of the readymade — the designation of existing manufactured objects as artworks — displaced questions of skill and authorship in favour of selection, context, and institutional framing. Works such as Fountain (1917) and L.H.O.O.Q. (1919) remain among the most discussed objects in the history of modern art.

Duchamp's influence extended across Dada, Surrealism, Fluxus, conceptual art, and institutional critique. His practice of issuing certificates, replicas, and editions — including the Boîte-en-valise (1935–1941) and the Boîte verte (1934) — anticipated later debates about authenticity, reproduction, and the document as artwork. He largely withdrew from public artistic life after 1923, though his influence continued to grow posthumously.

Publications gathered here include exhibition catalogues, artist books, and printed matter relating to Duchamp's practice and its reception. Original and period items.