Marcel Duchamp – Artwork & Bio of the French Painter

Marcel Duchamp was a French painter born on 28 July 1887 in Normandy, France. Duchamp’s first artistic influence came from his mother, a landscape painter. In 1904, Duchamp moved to Paris to join his brothers and enrolled at the Academie Julian. He worked as a cartoonist to earn a living while experimenting with the methods of different art movements.

Duchamp relocated to New York and continued his experimentation with art, especially readymade – a term he coined for everyday objects that he translated into artworks. Duchamp shuffled between Paris and New York later in his career, passively associating with Dadaism and Surrealism. Living out the rest of his life reclusively, Duchamp died on 2 October 1968.

What was Marcel Duchamp Known For?

Marcel Duchamp was known for creating unconventional art and challenging the laid-down restrictions of making art. Throughout his career, Duchamp aimed for the uncommon with his art, eventually inventing the idea of readymade by making art of everyday objects. He experimented widely with several mediums and techniques.

Who was Marcel Duchamp Influenced By?

Duchamp was influenced by Odilon Redon and Raymond Roussel. Early in his career, Duchamp associated with the Cubism movement and grew interested in the anti-academic works of Redon, a Symbolist painter. Duchamp, however, declared that it was more profitable to be influenced by a writer than a painter after watching a theatre adaptation of Roussel’s work.

What Art Movement was Marcel Duchamp Associated With?

Marcel Duchamp was associated with the Surrealism and Dadaism art movements. Although he never publicly associated with any group to avoid political drama, his works fall in the category of these movements.