Profs and Pints Online presents: “The Art of Marcel Duchamp,” with Lisa Lipinski, assistant professor of art history at the George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design and teacher of a graduate art history seminar on Duchamp and his legacy there.

The French artist Marcel Duchamp is considered to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, leaving his mark on contemporary art and the institution of art itself as he sought “to put art back in the service of the mind.” Come hear an exploration of Duchamp’s career and his legacy, which will look at how he thought deeply about art and aesthetics.

Duchamp focused the fundamental question of what art is, as well as the role of the art spectator, setting him apart from those who had focused on how art is made and on the genius of the artist. In 1913, he wondered: Can one make works which are not works of “art”? It was a typical Duchampian question, both serious and playful, revealing his delight in contradiction.

Four years later, Duchamp attempted to exhibit a men’s urinal with the title Fountain in an art exhibition which was organized by the newly established Society of Independent Artists in New York. Was this ordinary piece of plumbing a work that was not a work of ‘art’? For the artists on the organizing committee, the answer was yes, and they rejected it for reasons which may seem obvious today. Fountain is the most iconic readymade—Duchamp’s term for a piece made from an ordinary, found object—and the original was lost before ever being publicly exhibited.

This talk will leave you with much more knowledge and appreciation of the Duchamp works that remain accessible for our enjoyment.

Profs & Pints Online: The Art of Marcel Duchamp