Posted on 03/29/2010 12:50:09 PM PDT by JoeProBono
LONDON,- A London art expert said four replicas of a urinal famously submitted as a sculpture in 1917 have recently been discovered, bringing the total to 19.
Sarah Thornton, an art expert and contributor for The Economist, said four previously unknown copies of Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain," a urinal submitted as a piece of art, have recently been confirmed as authentic copies of the same urinal, The Times of London reported Monday.
Thornton said one of urinals is in the possession of Arturo Schwarz, 86, a friend of Duchamp. Schwarz said he may attempt to sell the item for about $2.5 million.
So famous the author didn’t think he needed to explain WTF?!?! He was wrong.
Marcel Duchamp: Chess Master
I saw this stunning and fabulous piece of “art” in a show at the Chicago Art Institute in 1974. It was near the spellbinding piece in which he painted a mustache on a postcard of the Mona Lisa.
It could have been this event in my life that led me to become a certified public accountant instead of an artist.
It was anti-art. What Duchamp himself called a “readymade’. It was only “art” when put in the gallery showroom.
Take it out of there, and it’s just an unused urinal.
Conceptual art vs. craft.
![](http://i44.tinypic.com/96x7wl.jpg")
Submitted to whom as art? How do they know their copies of this “art” and not used urinals?
Duchamp worked as a file clerk even while he was turning out “edgey” pieces like these (which made him famous in certain circles but didn’t make him rich).
The original Mona Lisa with a mustache is owned by the Communist Party of France. There are a number of smaller reproductions he produced for part of a self-made boxed set.
I’m assuming that these “copies” are also signed. The secret is to never let your customers know they’ve been taken in by The Emperor’s New Clothes.
ahhhhhhhh....
So is the plumbing section at Home Depot now officially an art gallery? If so I’m going down there right now with my new interpretive work, “The Biden Bidet”, and make a fortune!!!!
L.H.O.O.Q.?
That art I like actually. But he should have put Harry Potter glasses on her too.
He also wrote “she has a nice ass” on the poster of the Mona Lisa. You have to understand Duchamp. His point was poking fun at the art world. He was saying that he could put anything in a gallery, and people would gush over it as though it had some higher spiritual significance. He’s also the artist who took a number of years off and just played chess, just to thumb his nose at the concept of the artist as driven to produce art. Duchamp is awesome.
It’s french. The first letters for “she has a nice ass.”
Guess we’d have to take the artist’s word on that.
Oh, were you serious?
I’m serious. Duchamp spent a good part of his career poking fun at the hoity toities of the art world. The man was an accomplished artist, but thought most artists were too full of themselves. He’s a kick. One of his last works, called The Large Glass (The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even) cracked as it was being transferred to a gallery for display. The gallery owner called Duchamp to tell him, full of trepidation that they’d destroyed this famous artist’s masterpiece. Duchamp’s reply was, “great, now it’s finally finished.”
Went to his Wikpedia article. He’s the Nude Descending a Staircase guy. You’re right, really interesting dude.
I wouldn’t pay a nickel over $2.1 million for it. Call me cheap, but a man’s got to know his limitations.
$2million toilet BUMP.
I wonder how many our government unknowingly bought for that price.
I’ll be busy for a while, so don’t expect me to be around.
I’ll be in the basement making my own “copy” of the artwork. It will be as authentic a “copy” as any other. A copy is a copy, right?
When I sell it and get rich, you can say you knew me when.
Picasso once misidentifed one of his own pieces as a forgery. When called on it, he said “I can fake a Picasso as well as anybody else.”
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