The artwork titled “King and Queen surrounded by swift nudes” was crafted by the renowned artist Marcel Duchamp in the year 1912. Utilizing the medium of oil on canvas, this piece is a remarkable confluence of Cubism and Futurism movements. With dimensions of 114.6 x 128.9 cm, it is a figurative artwork currently housed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, PA, US.
In this exquisitely rendered piece, Duchamp employs a dynamic composition with fragmented forms and overlapping geometrical shapes. The figures are abstracted and composed of faceted planes and sharp angles, creating an interplay of light and shadow that accentuates the sense of movement and energy. The king and queen are central figures, yet they are enveloped by a swirl of enigmatic, swift nudes, suggesting a dance of energies or perhaps a surrounding aura of abstraction. The use of muted, earthy tones evokes a sense of depth and texture. The painting encapsulates the aesthetics of its time, brilliantly reflecting the avant-garde techniques and the innovative spirit of early 20th-century art. The intertwining of Cubist fragmentation and Futurist dynamism grants the artwork a timeless appeal and a profound narrative complexity.