Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 1)
Marcel Duchamp, American (born France), 1887 - 1968
Date:
1911Medium:
Oil on cardboard on panelDimensions:
37 3/4 x 23 3/4 inches (95.9 x 60.3 cm) Framed: 41 1/2 x 27 1/8 x 3 inches (105.4 x 68.9 x 7.6 cm)Copyright:
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris / Estate of Marcel DuchampCuratorial Department:
Modern and Contemporary ArtObject Location:
1950-134-58Credit Line:
The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950
1911Medium:
Oil on cardboard on panelDimensions:
37 3/4 x 23 3/4 inches (95.9 x 60.3 cm) Framed: 41 1/2 x 27 1/8 x 3 inches (105.4 x 68.9 x 7.6 cm)Copyright:
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris / Estate of Marcel DuchampCuratorial Department:
Modern and Contemporary ArtObject Location:
Currently not on view
Accession Number:1950-134-58Credit Line:
The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950
Addressing what he later called “the problem of motion in painting,” Marcel Duchamp here repeats elements of the nude’s body in her final steps down a precipitous spiral staircase. This evocation of elapsed time in a static composition resonates with the Futurist works of Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini, and others. However, by 1911 Duchamp was closely involved with the circle of artists gathering regularly in the Paris suburb of Puteaux. Other artists who belonged to the Puteaux Group included Fernand Léger, Robert Delaunay, and Josef Csaky.
