Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture

By Susan Davidson

National Portrait Gallery

8th Street NW and F Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 633-1000
Fax: (202) 275-1887

Nearby Metro Stops:

Gallery Place-Chinatown

Wheelchair Accessible:

Yes

Kid Friendly:

Yes

Visit Website

“Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture” encompasses 100 portraits and self-portraits of Duchamp by Richard Avedon, Joseph Cornell, Jasper Johns, Man Ray, and others.

Portraits were never quite the same after Duchamp (1887–1968) reinvented the form. His “Nude Descending a Staircase,” an angular figure repeated several times, caused a sensation in 1913. Says curator Anne Collins Goodyear: “Duchamp is still a dynamic force because he set up the questions that have encouraged artists to explore identity. Without Duchamp, we would not have Andy Warhol.”