Marcel Duchamp Analysis

Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), was one of the most controversial artists during the twentieth century. His works relate to modern movements such as Cubism and Dadaism. His creation of the readymades was some of the most memorable and influential works of the time. Duchamp’s art works were produced during the Dada movement; a time that developed as a protest to the War. The war fought between July 28, 1914, and November 11, 1918, was known at the time as the Great War, the War to End War, and (in the United States) the European War. Its casualty totals were unprecedented, soaring into the millions. (HistoryNet)
Due to this war, a number of artists, writers and intellectuals notably of …show more content…
His use of satire and contradictions infused his works with humor while still enabling him to comment on the dominant political and economic systems of time. His anti social and anti cultural works changed the way art should be viewed and what art should be. Duchamp new style of “art” was a reference point for artist, who opposed abstract expressionism- painting as a personal expression appealing primary to the eye. He was not interested in ‘retinal art’; this was art that appealed only to the eye and not the mind. And he was able to refashion the very concept of art by breaking the tradition of easel painting. His refusal to follow conventions helped him to take art to new intellectual and conceptual …show more content…
(Juovitz 76) This challenge from Duchamp brought on a new perception to art. It was defined as Conceptual Art; Conceptual art does not require an academic context to be understood, but it does demand some acquaintance with an acknowledgement of the pertinent history. (Morgan xvi). Conceptual art was founded by the Dada movement. The artists focus was not on crafting aesthetically pleasing objects, but on making works that often upended bourgeois sensibilities and that generated difficult questions about society, the role of the artist, and the purpose of