Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker provide a description, historical perspective, and analysis of a few of Marcel Duchamp’s works: Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2), Bicycle Wheel, Bicycle Wheel, and Fountain.

Works Discussed

Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2), oil on canvas, 1912 (Philadelphia Museum of Art)

Marcel Duchamp, Bicycle Wheel, Metal wheel on wood stool, 1913, (replica after lost original, 1951), (MoMA)

Marcel Duchamp, In Advance of a Broken Arm, galvanized-iron snow shovel, 1915 (replica after lost original, 1964), (MoMA)

Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, porcelain urinal, 1917 (replica after lost original, 1951), (Philadelphia Museum of Art)