Centre Pompidou, Marcel Duchamp Portal is born: documents and images with free access for all

The Centre Pompidou has opened a digital platform dedicated to Marcel Duchamp as of January 24, 2022, with the aim of making valuable and numerous archival materials related to the famous artist available to researchers for the first time.

Portail Marcel Duchamp, this is the title of the project, is the result of a partnership between three French and American institutions: the Philadelphia Museum of Art, theMarcel Duchamp Association, and the Centre Pompidou; these hold important collections of the artist and have been collaborating for four years to donate their funds.

The platform offers free access to some 18 thousand documents and works and nearly 50 thousand images related to Duchamp’simmense artistic and conceptual legacy, his art, and his family and professional connections. Among the extensive collections made available are the Alexina and Marcel Duchamp Papers of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the archival collections of the Marcel Duchamp Association, the André Breton and Vasily Kandinsky at the Centre Pompidou, the collections related to the major retrospectives in Philadelphia (1976) or at the Centre Pompidou (1977), and the collection related to the genesis and realization of Duchamp’s last major work, Etant Donnés 1° La Chute d’eau, 2° Le gaz d’éclairage (1946-1966), preserved by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

It should be considered that Marcel Duchamp’s works alone from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Museum of Modern Art (Mnam-Cci) at the Centre Pompidou count more than five hundred pieces in total.

The portal is intended to be a pilot research tool regarding works, exhibitions, personalities, and avant-garde movements that Duchamp knew or approached. It is also possible to cross-reference different search parameters. The ambitious intent is thus to make it an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to study one of the greatest and most enigmatic artists of the 20th century, the ready-made artist.

Image: Marcel Duchamp, Fontain (1917-1964). © Association Marcel Duchamp / Adagp, Paris. Photo Credits © Audrey Laurans - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI.

Centre Pompidou, Marcel Duchamp Portal is born: documents and images with free access for all

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