Writings on one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, by some of its most celebrated writers and artists: Jasper Johns, Octavio Paz, John Cage, and more. Best known for cheeky conceptual workslike his signed urinals ( R. Mutt ) and his graffitioed Mona LisaMarcel Duchamp (18871968) was also an extraordinary painter and sculptor ( Nude Descending a Staircase ) who changed the language of twentieth-century art and reigns with Picasso and Matisse as one of its greatest influences. Joseph Masheck has compiled a sampler of the best writing on Duchamp, with pieces that include Duchamp’s obituary from Artforum , written by Jasper Johns; Octavio Paz on the ready-mades; a Duchamp post-mortem by Hans Richter; Donald Judd’s investigation of Rrose Slavy; a Counter-Avant-Garde by Clement Greenberg; a consideration by Guillaume Apollinaire; and John Cage’s 26 Statements on Marcel Duchamp.

Illustrated with photographs of Duchamp’s seminal pieces, and updated with a substantial preface that offers new scholarship as well as a fascinating consideration of why Duchamp’s popularity has exponentially increased since this book first appeared, this is an essential volume for the Duchamp devotee.