An abstract painting need in 50 years by no means look "abstract" any longer.
Marcel DuchampRead
If only America would realize that the art of Europe is finished - dead - and that America is the country of the art of the future, instead of trying to base everything she does on European traditions!
Interpretation
What this quote means
Duchamp argues that America should innovate rather than imitate European art traditions.
In this quote, Marcel Duchamp expresses his belief that America has the potential to lead the future of art by moving away from the established traditions of Europe, which he sees as completed or outdated. He emphasizes the importance of originality and the value of American cultural contributions to the art world, advocating for a new artistic identity that reflects American innovation and creativity.
Themes
ArtAmericaEuropeInnovationTradition
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech at an art conference, one might quote Duchamp to inspire artists to seek their own paths.
More from Marcel Duchamp
All quotes →All this twaddle, the existence of God, atheism, determinism, liberation, societies, death, etc., are pieces of a chess game called language, and they are amusing only if one does not preoccupy oneself with 'winning or losing this game of chess.
Marcel DuchampRead
I am still a victim of chess. It has all the beauty of art - and much more. It cannot be commercialized. Chess is much purer than art in its social position.
Marcel DuchampRead
I never finished the 'Large Glass' because, after working on it for eight years, I probably got interested in something else; also, I was tired. It may be that, subconsciously, I never intended to finish it because the word 'finish' implies an acceptance of traditional methods and all the paraphernalia that accompany them.
Marcel DuchampRead
It's a product of two poles - there's the pole of the one who makes the work, and the pole of the one who looks at it. I give the latter as much importance as the one who makes it.
Marcel DuchampRead
I became a librarian at the Sainte-Genevieve Library in Paris. I made this gesture to rid myself of a certain milieu, a certain attitude, to have a clean conscience, but also to make a living. I was twenty-five. I had been told that one must make a living, and I believed it.
Marcel DuchampRead
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To paint is the most terrific thing that there is, but to do it well is very difficult.
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I travel in gardens and bedrooms, basements and attics, around corners, through doorways and windows, along sidewalks, over carpets, down drainpipes, in the sky, with friends, lovers, children and heros; perceived, remembered, imagined, distorted and clarified.
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