Author Description

"Aka Marcel Duchamp is an anthology of recent essays by leading scholars on Marcel Duchamp, arguably the most influential artist of the twentieth century. With scholarship addressing the full range of Duchamp's career, these papers examine how Duchamp's influence grew and impressed itself upon his contemporaries and subsequent generations of artists. Duchamp provides an illuminating model of the dynamics of play in construction of artistic identity and legacy, which includes both personal volition and contributions made by fellow artists, critics, and historians. This volume is not only important for its contributions to Duchamp studies and the light it sheds on the larger impact of Duchamp's art and career on modern and contemporary art, but also for what it reveals about how the history of art itself is shaped over time by shifting agendas, evolving methodologies, and new discoveries. Includes contributions by Wendy Wick Reaves, Adrian Sudhalter, James Housefield, David Hopkins, Linda Dalrymple Henderson, Scott Homolka, Beth A. Price, Ken Sutherland, Catherine Craft, Lewis Kachur, Scott Gerson, Michael Taylor, Francis M. Naumann, Janine Mileaf, and Brian O'Doherty"-- "The present volume aims precisely to shed light into aspects of Duchamp's career not previously scrutinized, in particular the construction--both by Duchamp and others--of his complex personal and artistic identity. The essays grow out of "Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture," an exhibition hosted by the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery (March - August 2009).2 In conjunction with the exhibition, the curators (now the editors of this compilation) invited leading scholars--together with the highly respected artist Brian O'Doherty--whose work was featured in the exhibition--to speak to the development of Duchamp's identity both in reference to the exhibition and expanding beyond it. The high caliber of the papers invited publication, and these contributions--or variations on them--appear here amplified by the addition of other essays not included in that venue. This publication, then, allows the further development of themes addressed--or hinted at in "Inventing Marcel Duchamp"--which focused on the fabrication of the specter of "Marcel Duchamp" through the avenue of portraiture. Presented here are also studies that take advantage of new discoveries since the presentation of that exhibition"--