Marcel Duchamp

Conceptual art, readymades

Modern influential 108 sayings

Sayings by Marcel Duchamp

I don't think there is a solution. I don't think there is a problem.

1960s — Attributed, often in discussions of his work
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I hate the word 'art.'

1946 — Interview with James Johnson Sweeney
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I am not a painter, I am a chess player.

1950s-1960s — Attributed, frequently quoted statement
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I believe in the use of the brain. I don't believe in the use of the hand.

1946 — Interview with James Johnson Sweeney
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The only works of art that America has given are her plumbing and her bridges.

Undated — Attributed, often quoted in discussions of his views on American art
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I have never been interested in making beautiful things.

1946 — Interview with James Johnson Sweeney
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I don't want to define anything.

1966 — Interview with Pierre Cabanne
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

It's not what you see that matters, it's what you think.

Undated — Attributed, frequently quoted
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

My mind is more on the game of chess than on painting.

1946 — Interview with James Johnson Sweeney
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I consider painting as a means to an end, not an end in itself.

1946 — Interview with James Johnson Sweeney
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I wanted to get away from the physical aspect of painting. I was more interested in the ideas.

1961 — Interview with Katherine Kuh
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I have always been a non-conformist.

1946 — Interview with James Johnson Sweeney
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Art is a habit-forming drug.

Undated — Attributed, often quoted
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The artist is a mediumistic being who, from the labyrinth beyond time and space, seeks his way to a clearing.

1957 — Speech, 'The Creative Act'
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I like silence better than music.

1946 — Interview with James Johnson Sweeney
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I have never believed in the truth of painting.

1946 — Interview with James Johnson Sweeney
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I believe in the indifference of the viewer.

Undated — Attributed, often in discussions of his work
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The choice of the Readymade is always based on visual indifference and, at the same time, on the total absence of good or bad taste.

1961 — Statement about Readymades
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I don't think that art is something that you can define.

1966 — Interview with Pierre Cabanne
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I was much more interested in the idea of making something that had no form.

1961 — Interview with Katherine Kuh
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable