MARCEL DUCHAMP (1887–1968)
Nude Descending Staircase, December 1937
Stamped and signed color reproduction of the 1912 painting Nude Descending Staircase (no. 2)
Jean Farley Levy Estate
Duchamp issued full-color reproductions of two of his most famous paintings for a solo exhibition held at the Arts Club of Chicago in 1937. Like his other “ready-mades,” these reproductions, which bear his signature over a five-centime stamp, encourage the viewer to question notions of artistic value and originality. Famous for shocking the art establishment in 1915 by presenting a porcelain urinal turned on its side as a work of art at a New York City exhibition, Duchamp is often cited as one of the 20th century’s most influential and controversial artists. He was also prescient. Levy noted that Duchamp was “as steady as the needle of a compass . . . in indicating the secret directions of our modern thought.”
As Alfred Stieglitz helped to shape the Julien Levy Gallery in its early years, Duchamp led the second phase of its development. Levy later wrote of a rainy day walk to Stieglitz’s gallery on the corner of 57th Street and Madison Avenue: “I found myself thinking with poignant immediacy, not only of Alfred Stieglitz, but even more of Marcel Duchamp, the two men who have had the greatest formative influence on my present temper. I thought how I would like to have both as spiritual fathers. I decided to adopt them as godfathers, and in my mind I did.” Julien Levy was only 21 years old when he first met Duchamp. The artist encouraged Levy to leave his studies at Harvard University to pursue a career as a collector and curator.