Marcel Duchamp

1887-1968

The King of the Ready-Made

• readymade or ready-made - An object manufactured for some other purpose, presented by an artist as a work of art. Between 1914 and 1921, Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887-1968), who originated this concept, selected and signed, among others, a snow shovel, a comb, and a urinal. He occasionally altered readymades (sometimes called assisted readymades) -- the most famous of which was a cheap reproduction of Mona Lisa on which Duchamp drew a mustache.

http://www.artlex.com/

Bicycle Wheel, 1913 / 1964

Part of the Dada movement…

Dada - An early twentieth century art movement which ridiculed contemporary culture and traditional art forms.

Fountain, 1917

L.H.O.O.Q. (1919)

Dada Sculpture

http://rocknfish.com/DadaBird.jpg

http://www.asds.org/ah2004/John/analysis.htm

http://www.discovery.mala.bc.ca/web/hunterg/_head.jpg

Raoul Hausmann's The Spirit of Our Time, (1921) (fig.3), is an

essemblage:This multimedia sculpture looks like

the remains of a soldier from the front; it stimulates the mind as the viewer tries to understand what the artist is thinking about. For instance

all of the young men lining up, waiting to be processed for the war, are

motivated by number and measure. Perhaps Hausmann wanted to

address the blind allegiance to the false morality of the time, and the

head represents what could happen as a result of this allegiance: one's individuality comes into question

through a combination of cynicism and automatism when studying this

piece.

David SmithThis biography from the Archives of AskART:

"David Smith was a leading-edge modernist, who created large-scale sculptures in styles ranging from Cubist, Surrealist, and Constructivist. Much of his importance to art historians is the fact that in his sculptures, he pioneered the style of Cubism and methods of welding.

His work emphasized energy and movement, which aligned him with the Abstract Expressionists, especially gestural painters such as Jackson Pollock. Many of these abstracted forms had personal meaning and were comments on life and the innovation of technology. "

http://www.davidsmithestate.org/bio_files/tanktotemVI.jpg

http://www.today.ucla.edu/2005/Images/051011_sculpture.jpg

http://www.nga.gov/feature/sculpturegarden/sculpture/images/13.jpg

www.bluffton.edu/.../ scgarden5.html

David SmithCubi XXVI1965, steel

Cubi XII, 1963Stainless steel109 5/8 x 49 1/4 x 32 1/4 in. (278.5 x 125.1 x 81.9 cm).

hirshhorn.si.edu/.../ interactive/geometric.html

http://www.cornermark.com/bkwsculpture2.html

http://www.marshallhoyt.com/Image2.gif

25 planes 1958

stainless steel

350.5 (h) x 169.5 (w) x 40.0 (d) cm

http://www.nga.gov.au/International/Catalogue/Detail.cfm?IRN=101775&SiteID=1

http://www.felsted.essex.sch.uk/~nlo/ASHoAFINAL/sculpture/David%20Smith_files/image002.jpg

http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu:7138/gallery/album02/David_Smith_Cubi_XIV_8211_1963_polished_stainless_steel_h_circa_2_5_m