Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2.
|
Title |
Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2. |
|
Translated Title |
Nu descendant un escalier No. 2. |
|
Creator |
Duchamp, Marcel (French painter, sculptor, and writer, 1887-1968) |
|
Date |
1912 |
|
Cultural Context |
French
European
Western European |
|
Style/Period |
Cubist
Futurist |
|
Subject |
Locomotion
Human locomotion
Walking
Nudes
Stairways |
|
Description |
"Marcel Duchamp submitted [to the 1913 New York Armory Show] Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, which was the most scandalous work of all. It was a humorous attack on Futurist proscriptions against traditional, Academic nudity. The image has a kinetic quality consistent with the Futurist interest in speed and motion. At the same time, the figure is a combination of Cubist form and multiple images that indicate the influence of photography. She is shown at different points in her descent, so the painting resembles a series of consecutive movie stills, unframed and superimposed. […] Duchamp recorded his own version of the Nude's place in the history of art: 'My aim was a static representation of movement - a static composition of indications of various positions taken by a form in movement - with no attempt to give cinema effects through painting.'" |
|
Material |
Oil on canvas
Oil paint (pigmented coating)
Paint
Canvas |
|
Measurements |
4 ft 10 in x 2 ft 11 in (1.47 x 0.89 m) |
|
Technique |
Oil painting (technique)
Painting (image-making) |
|
Inscription |
Lower left: NU DESCENDANT UN ESCALIER; Bottom center: Artist's signature |
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Work Type |
Oil paintings
Paintings |
|
Repository |
Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) |
|
Source |
Adams, Laurie Schneider. Art Across Time. 2nd ed. 2 vols. New York: McGraw, 2002. (p.[899], 25.18). |
|
Rights |
Reproduced in Adams courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection/ © 2001 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris/Estate of Marcel Duchamp. |
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Digital Publisher |
University of Louisville Department of Fine Arts/Allen R. Hite Art Institute Visual Resources Center |
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Format |
image/jpeg |
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Digital File Name |
VRC 437-16.jpg |
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Rating |
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