Boîte-en-valise (De ou par Marcel Duchamp ou Rrose Sélavy)

Label TextDuchamp’s artistic innovations provoked shock and outrage throughout his long career, and his work set the stage for many forms of contemporary art. A theorist as well as an artist, Duchamp’s most influential act was to display manufactured items as “readymade” sculptures, declaring that the idea or intention behind an artwork assumes more importance than the finished piece. Duchamp was also a forefather of Dada, an art movement prioritizing irrationality, playfulness, and creating art by chance and accident rather than technical skill. Late in his art career, Duchamp created The Box in a Valise to act a small, portable museum of all of his works. The box exists in several versions, and was produced in large series, making it a “readymade” retrospective of Duchamp’s career, available to many rather than a select few. When opened, the box resembles a game, and the contents can be arranged in many ways, paying tribute to the ideals of Dada.
Exhibition History"Commitment, Community and Controversy: The Des Moines Art Center Collections," Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, January 24, 1998 - May 10, 1998

Alternate Title

De ou Par Marcel Duchamp ou Rrose Sélavy (La Bôite en Valise) [The Box in a Valise]

DimensionsOverall: 16 × 14 5/8 × 3 3/4 in. (40.6 × 37.1 × 9.5 cm)

Accession Number 1990.9

Classificationsmultiples

CopyrightARS

SignedMarcel Duchamp (left side, interior, bottom of box in graphite)

Portfolio/SeriesSeries F (red cover)

ProvenanceArtist; Alexina Duchamp, Villiers-sous-Grez, France [probably acquired from the previous]; Des Moines Art Center [purchased from the previous, 1990]