The Duchamp Book (Tate Essential Artists Series)

the long version

Marcel Duchamp (1887 - 1968) was, without doubt, one of the most controversial artists of the twentieth century. Associated with cubism, Dada, and Surrealism, his invention of the "readymade"led him to produce some of the most iconic works of his era. While he is often cited as the most influential artist of his generation and is seen by many to be the progenitor of much of the conceptual and postmodern art of today, the writing published to date on Duchamp is often obscure and mired in theory.