MARCEL DUCHAMP

Long before Andy Warhol (1928-87) made art out of a common soup can, another artist turned the art world upside down by questioning what art is or what it can be. That artist was Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), a Frenchman who changed the rules in 1917 by entering a urinal for an exhibit in a New York gallery.Duchamp conceived of the artwork, titled "Fountain," for a show promoting avant-garde art. Paying the $6 entry fee for an exhibit of the American Society of Independent Artists, he signed it with the pseudonym "R. Mutt" as a prank to his fellow avant-garde artists. It was never actually included in the exhibit. Nevertheless the piece has become iconic, and is widely considered one of the most influential modern artworks of all time."Art, ultimately, can be anything, and Duchamp is the person who first said that," says Matt Wrbican, archivist at The Andy Warhol Museum. "Twisted Pair: Marcel Duchamp/Andy Warhol," an exhibit at the Warhol museum organized by Wrbican, examines a unique artistic kinship between Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol, two of the most important and influential artists of the 20th century.

Pittsburgh Tribune Review
June 27 2010