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Box in a Valise (From or by Marcel Duchamp or Rrose Sélavy)
Marcel Duchamp (American, born France. 1887-1968)
1935-41. Leather valise containing miniature replicas, photographs, color reproductions of works by Duchamp, and one "original" drawing [Large Glass, collotype on celluloid, 7 1/2 x 9 1/2" (19 x 23.5 cm)], 16 x 15 x 4" (40.7 x 38.1 x 10.2 cm). James Thrall Soby Fund. © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris / Estate of Marcel Duchamp
67.1943.a-rrr
Book/Shelf
March 26–July 7, 2008
Alongside other projects by Duchamp documented in his Box in a Valise is an image of Unhappy Readymade. Duchamp conceived this work in April 1919 as a gift for his newlywed sister Suzanne and her husband, painter Jean Crotti. During a trip to Buenos Aires, Duchamp sent instructions to the couple in Paris to buy a geometry book and hang it by strings from their balcony. As the artist explained, "The wind had to go through the book, choose its own problems, turn and tear out the pages." The work was destroyed in the process of its making and is known only through a photograph taken, most probably, a few months after the book was installed outdoors. Before its reproduction for inclusion in Box in a Valise, the image was retouched to restore the appearance of the text and diagrams, which had been worn off the book's pages.
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