Marcel Duchamp
Father of conceptual art
Most quoted
"Art is the only form of activity in which man as man shows himself to be a true individual. Only in art is he capable of going beyond the animal state, because art is an outlet toward regions which are not ruled by time and space."
— from Session on the Creative Act, 1957
"The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act."
— from The Creative Act, 1957
"What I have in mind is that art may be bad, good or indifferent, but whatever adjective is used, we must call it art, and bad art is still art in the same way that a bad emotion is still an emotion."
— from Speech, 1957
All quotes by Marcel Duchamp (321)
I don't want to repeat myself.
I am not a painter.
The readymade is a form of anti-art.
I wanted to escape from the physical aspect of painting.
The readymade is a challenge to the idea of originality.
I have never been interested in the retinal aspect of art.
The artist is a mediumistic being.
I don't want to be a slave to my own ideas.
The readymade is a way of making art without making art.
I don't believe in progress in art.
The artist is a human being who makes things.
I wanted to avoid the 'smell of oil paint'.
The readymade is a way of questioning the role of the artist.
I don't believe in the 'genius' of the artist.
The artist is a human being who thinks.
I wanted to demystify art.
The readymade is a way of making art accessible to everyone.
I don't believe in the 'beauty' of art.
The artist is a human being who plays.
The painting is no longer a decoration to be hung in the dining room or living room. We have thought of other things.
Contemporaries of Marcel Duchamp
Other Visual Artss born within 50 years of Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968).