Marcel Duchamp—the conceptual artist best known for exhibiting a urinal as a work of original art—was the focus of a well-attended panel entitled “The Legacy of Marcel Duchamp,” in Kresge Auditorium on Wednesday.
This depiction of a urinal was not immediately accepted into the art world. “Fountain,” the title of the piece, only became well known years later, but the original dismissal of the piece did not stop Duchamp’s success as an artist.
“This rejection [of the piece] occasioned an opportunity for Duchamp to collaborate with other artists to determine what the purpose of the artwork was,” said Anne Goodyear, co-director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.
“By taking a urinal out of its everyday context…he attached a new idea to the object and transformed it conceptually. Boundaries that had previously been understood between art and everyday world fell apart.”
The panel featured three individuals, each with a different perspective on Duchamp’s work. Panelists included Scott Homolka, associate conservator of works of art on paper at the Philadelphia Art Museum, James W. McManus, emeritus professor of art history at California State University, Chico, and Michael R. Taylor, director of the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College.
“Scott [brings the] perspective of a paper conservator who thinks about the physical evidence of a work of art; Jim brings an academic perspective and Michael has an art museum background as curator and director of the Hood Museum at Dartmouth,” said Goodyear.
The panel was held in conjunction with the Museum of Art’s current exhibition, “Collaborations and Collusions,” which focuses on networks of modern artists including Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Mary Cassatt and others.
“The art museum is a place where students can be exposed to ideas, speakers and artists that collectively take us beyond Brunswick,” said Goodyear. “One of the goals of this exhibition is to think about ways different artists work together and inform one another. It helps us understand why one might want to engage with the everyday in the modern world.”
According to the the panelists, Duchamp was a conceptual artist who made viewers question the definition of art in our society. Duchamp’s extreme precision gives his artwork a deeper meaning.
“Duchamp is an outstanding example of an artist who wants us to challenge our assumptions,” said Goodyear.
“Duchamp, more than almost any other artist in the twentieth century, taught us how to think about and look at works to get beyond the physicality of the object and understand the structure of the work,” said McManus. “This is what makes him so attractive and challenging at the same time.”
Duchamp’s style of art continues to be relevant today, according to Taylor.
“Duchamp remains extremely current because he was so far ahead of his peers that we are still catching up with his ideas, which are still very radical,” said Taylor. “He remains the kind of artist you can still admire and find new ideas from.”
McManus had a similar assessment.
“The challenges presented by Duchamp are no less critical today than they were in 1917 when he presented “Fountain,” he said. “Duchamp swung the door open to think about what can be art and what cannot be art, and it continues to have an impact.”
“Collaborations and Collusions” will be on display until February 8.