Alchemist of the Avant-Garde: The Case of Marcel Duchamp

512 Pages·2003·5.49 MB·English

by  John F. Moffitt

a l c h e m i s t
o f t h e
a v a n t - g a r d e
SUNY series in Western Esoteric Traditions
David Appelbaum, editor
a l c h e m i s t o f
t h e a v a n t - g a r d e
THE CASE OF MARCEL
DUCHAMP
J o h n F. M o f f i t t
state university of new york press
cover: Marcel Duchamp, Wanted/$2000 Reward© 2002 Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York /
ADAGP, Paris / Estate of Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp, The Large Glass; Marcel Duchamp, Portrait du Docteur Dumouchel, 1910; Marcel
Duchamp,Le Printemps, 1911;Marcel Duchamp, La Mariée mise à nu par les Célibataires, meme;
Marcel Duchamp, Terminological, Plan of the Large Glass, 1915–1923; Marcel Duchamp,
Tu m’..., 1918; Marcel Duchamp,...tant donnés: 1(cid:114)la chute d’eau, Interior, 1946; Marcel
Duchamp,...tant donnés: 1(cid:114) la chute d’eau, Exterior, 1946, © 2002 Artist Rights Society (ARS),
New York / ADAGP, Paris / Estate of Marcel Duchamp
Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp as Rrose Sélavy, 1920–1921 © 2002 Man Ray Trust/ Artist Rights
Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
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STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
ALBANY
© 2003 State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Moffitt, John F. (John Francis), 1940–
Alchemist of the avant-garde : the case of Marcel Duchamp / John F. Moffitt.
p. cm. — (SUNY series in Western esoteric traditions)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-5709-5 (alk. paper) —ISBN 0-7914-5710-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Duchamp, Marcel, 1887–1968—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Alchemy—Influence.
I. Title. II. Series.
N6853.D8 M64 2003
709.2—dc21 2002075855
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedico lo siguiente a
Juan Antonio Ramírez:
además de ser excelente intérprete de Marcel Duchamp,
fuiste tu quién me defendieras de los ataques provocados por mi
violación metafórica de cierta dama del Levante
(c’est à dire, ma bagarre d’Atocha).
On dédie aussi cet ouvrage à
Anni Laurian:
dame parisienne (pas d’Elche) qui m’a offert
les dictionnaires et traités
français essentiels sur l’Argot et l’Alchimie.
Thanks too to
Kent Lowry and Jack Rummel,
skillful editors of a text judged far too long by my
(unnamed but) knowledgeable Three Outside Readers,
otherwise enthusiastic for these iconoclastic revelations.
Sur Marcel Duchamp:
“A man’s life is his image.”
(Oscar Wilde)

Voilà la direction que doit prendre l’art: l’expression intellectuelle, plutôt que
l’expression animale. J’en ai assez de l’expression ‘bête comme un peintre’.
— Marcel Duchamp, 1946
All in all, the creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings
the work into contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting [it].
— Marcel Duchamp, 1957
Si j’ai fait de l’alchimie, c’est de la seule façon qui soit de nos jours admissible,
c’est-à-dire sans le savoir.
— Marcel Duchamp, 1959
D’ailleurs, c’est toujours les autres qui meurent.
— Marcel Duchamp, 1968
(tombstone epitaph, Cimetière Monumental de Rouen)
AVIS AUX LECTEURS
In order to make this volume available at an affordable price—and so
that it might actually get read—the illustrative materials had to be rig-
orously limited. Since reproductions of Duchamp’s works are widely
published, preference was given to the kind of literally esoteric illustra-
tions that must be unknown to nonspecialist readers. Accordingly, a
reference in my text to “MD-69” signifies “catalogue entry number 69”—
with the corresponding illustration—in Jean Clair’s standard 1977 pub-
lication of Duchamp’s complete oeuvre. Additionally, as cited in the
notes, all references to publications are shortened with full details of
name, title, place, etc. in the bibliography. Unless otherwise indicated,
all translations are mine.
The estate of Marcel Duchamp notes that theMarcel DuchampCatalogue
raisonné by Arturo Schwarz is a more recent catalogue.

contents
list of illustrations
xi
introduction: prosecuting the Duchamp case
1
CHAPTER ONE
an esoteric French adolescence for Duchamp:
symbolist culture and occultism
13
CHAPTER TWO
the invention of the modern alchemist-artist
37
CHAPTER THREE
the cultural shaping of an artist-iconoclast:
Duchamp in France, 1887–1915
65
CHAPTER FOUR
Duchamp’s first experiments in
esoteric and alchemical art, 1910–1912
97