Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
With
The Great Hidden Inspirer, the fourth volume in the
Poiesis series, the renowned Duchamp researcher Michael R. Taylor investigates the role of Duchamp as the "secret mastermind" at decisive moments in art history. In his eponymous essay, "The Great Hidden Inspirer," Taylor reveals that it was Duchamp who, while in exile in New York between 1942 and 1947, helped Surrealism out of its crisis and gave the movement a new direction.
The volume celebrates the 100th anniversary of what is probably Duchamp's most provocative stroke of genius, Fountain, and contains another one of Taylor's essays, "Blind Man's Bluff," which describes the backstory of how the urinal shook the art world. The attempts at the time to classify this provocative object are evidence of the difficulties its critics faced at the start of the 20th century as they sought to free themselves from traditional aesthetic concepts.
Synopsis
Duchamp's historic 1959 catalogue raisonn -cum-artist's book, superbly designed by the artist, now back in print in a facsimile edition
In 1959, French art critic and collector Robert Lebel published Sur Marcel Duchamp, a catalogue raisonn of Duchamp's works between 1902 and 1958 and the first monograph published on the work of the legendary artist. Lebel and Duchamp, lifelong friends, worked closely together over a period of six years to bring the book to fruition; Duchamp was so active in developing the conception and layout of the book that Sur Marcel Duchamp is often considered part of the artist's body of work. The result is an appropriately complex, genre-bending publication that is both scholarly catalogue raisonn and artist's book, a book that functions simultaneously as an accessible introduction to the artist's esoteric thinking and a further wrinkle in Duchamp's perplexing puzzle of an oeuvre. An English translation, executed by George Heard Hamilton, was released later in 1959.
Now, Hauser & Wirth Publishers is issuing a new facsimile of the historic English edition of Sur Marcel Duchamp. The original English edition is faithfully reproduced here, with a supplemental volume, edited by Jean-Jacques Lebel and Antoine Monnier, featuring texts and archival material that detail the close collaboration between Duchamp and Lebel. This essential publication brings the English translation of Sur Marcel Duchamp back into print and tells the fascinating story of its creation.
French American artist Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) moved through postimpressionism and cubism before embracing a dadaist rejection of painting and what he termed "retinal art," devoting himself to the pursuit of an art "in the service of the mind." His readymades radically redefined art and the artist's role in the 20th century, laying the groundwork for the postwar development of conceptual art.
Synopsis
Duchamp's historic 1959 catalogue raisonn -cum-artist's book, superbly designed by the artist, now back in print in a facsimile edition
Marcel Duchamp, the artist's first legendary monograph and draft catalogue raisonn , was written by art historian and novelist Robert Lebel and published in French in 1959; later that same year, it was translated into English by George Heard Hamilton for Grove Press. The book was a cooperation between Lebel and Duchamp, and beyond Lebel's extensive writing and bibliography, additional chapters were authored by Duchamp, H.P. Roch and Andr Breton. The coupling of these texts with diverse archival photographs and an illustrated compendium of Duchamp's artworks delivered a complex and personal rendering of the artist's life and inner circle. For the first time since its release more than 60 years ago, this landmark publication is back in circulation with Hauser & Wirth Publishers' meticulous facsimile of the English edition, reflecting everything from its hand-tipped images to its recto-verso dust jacket appearing as close to the original as possible.
Fully authorized by artist Jean-Jacques Lebel--Robert Lebel's son--and the Association Marcel Duchamp, the facsimile is accompanied by a supplement volume of essays and archival material that tells the story of Duchamp and Lebel's close collaboration, and, as contributor Michael Taylor writes, how the original publication signified a sea change in the artist's receptivity to critical interpretation. The supplement includes texts by both Robert and Jean-Jacques Lebel and a newly discovered note by Man Ray, among a bevy of photographs from the Lebel and Duchamp archives, extending the story presented in the 1959 edition.
Robert Lebel's analysis of Duchamp's oeuvre remains fresh to this day, as does the book's design, which was personally supervised by the artist. Hauser & Wirth Publishers reanimated Marcel Duchamp with the curatorial-design firm fluid, who recast the original typefaces as digital fonts, positioning each letter and image exactly as it was in the original. To achieve a near-exact facsimile, fluid consulted with paper conservators and printers to recreate the book with modern materials that match those available in 1959. This precise production quality assures that today's readers will experience this historic book as Marcel Duchamp and Robert Lebel intended.
Synopsis
Duchamp's historic 1959 catalogue raisonn -cum-artist's book now back in print in a facsimile edition
A New York Times critics' pick Best Art Books 2021
Marcel Duchamp, the artist's first legendary monograph and draft catalogue raisonn , was written by art historian and novelist Robert Lebel and published in French in 1959; later that same year, it was translated into English by George Heard Hamilton for Grove Press. The book was a cooperation between Lebel and Duchamp, and beyond Lebel's extensive writing and bibliography, additional chapters were authored by Duchamp, H.P. Roch and Andr Breton. The coupling of these texts with diverse archival photographs and an illustrated compendium of Duchamp's artworks delivered a complex and personal rendering of the artist's life and inner circle. For the first time since its release more than 60 years ago, this landmark publication is back in circulation with Hauser & Wirth Publishers' meticulous facsimile of the English edition, reflecting everything from its hand-tipped images to its recto-verso dust jacket appearing as close to the original as possible.
Fully authorized by artist Jean-Jacques Lebel--Robert Lebel's son--and the Association Marcel Duchamp, the facsimile is accompanied by a supplement volume of essays and archival material that tells the story of Duchamp and Lebel's close collaboration, and, as contributor Michael Taylor writes, how the original publication signified a sea change in the artist's receptivity to critical interpretation. The supplement includes texts by both Robert and Jean-Jacques Lebel and a newly discovered note by Man Ray, among a bevy of photographs from the Lebel and Duchamp archives, extending the story presented in the 1959 edition.
Robert Lebel's analysis of Duchamp's oeuvre remains fresh to this day, as does the book's design, which was personally supervised by the artist. Hauser & Wirth Publishers reanimated Marcel Duchamp with the curatorial-design firm fluid, who recast the original typefaces as digital fonts, positioning each letter and image exactly as it was in the original. To achieve a near-exact facsimile, fluid consulted with paper conservators and printers to recreate the book with modern materials that match those available in 1959. This precise production quality assures that today's readers will experience this historic book as Marcel Duchamp and Robert Lebel intended.
Synopsis
This publications became the go-to book on Duchamp for decades following its publication in late 1959, when exclusive grand-deluxe and deluxe editions in French, along with trade editions in French and English, were simultaneously released.