Bottle Dryer (Bottlerack)
1963 (replica of 1914 original)
Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887-1968)
Not on View

In 1913, Duchamp asked himself, "Can one make a work of art that is not a work of art?" In the case of this readymade, a metal rack for drying wine bottles, the answer is yes. He claimed that an artist's act of choice is sufficient to transform any functional object into a functionless sculpture - hence the term "readymade," a found or manufactured object whose previous purpose is rendered void, owing to the object's new classification by the artist. It has been altered conceptually. For an art world that prized the evidence of the artist's hand and labor, the shock value of the readymade was high. Beyond this, the object has accrued additional associations, including a symbolic relation to the Eiffel Tower and erotic overtones associated with the rack's empty spikes.

Details

  • Artist Name: Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887-1968)
  • Title: Bottle Dryer (Bottlerack)
  • Date: 1963 (replica of 1914 original)
  • Medium: Readymade bottle-dryer of galvanized iron
  • Dimensions: overall: 29-1/4 x 16 x 16 in. (74.3 x 40.6 x 40.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: Norton Simon Museum, Gift of Mr. Irving Blum, in memory of the Artist
  • Accession Number: P.1968.28
  • Copyright: © Association Marcel Duchamp / ADAGP, Paris / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York 2017 Reproduction, including downloading of ARS works is prohibited by copyright laws and international conventions without the express written permission of Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Object Information

Irving Blum, 1968 gift in memory of the artist, to;
Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, 1968-1975;
Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena.

Duchamp's Leg

  • Minneapolis, Walker Art Center, 1994-11-04 to 1995-02-26
  • Miami, Center for the Fine Arts, 1995-12-03 to 1996-03-03
  • Joyce, Julie et al., Pasadena to Santa Barbara: A Selected History of Art in Southern California, 1951-1969,2012, p. 120
  • Armory Center for the Arts/Art Center College of Design, Radical Past: Contemporary Art & Music in Pasadena, 1960-1974, p. 81
  • Ehmcke, Franziska, Der japanische Tee-Weg. Bewßtseinsschulung und Gesamtkunstwerk,no. 89 p. 192
  • Herausgegeben von Eric Erfurth, Marcel Duchamp-Flaschentrockner Doxographie,no. 4 pp. 36-37
  • Joseph Masheck, Marcel Duchamp in Perspective,2002, fig. 16 p. 21
  • Nancy Troy, Couture Culture: Paul Poiret, Modern Art and the Marketing of Fashion,fig. 4.2 pp. 284-285
  • Graham, Lanier, Duchamp and Androgyny,fig. 23 p. 39
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Additional Artwork by Artist

Boîte alerte (Mailbox) Marcel Duchamp 1959
Boîte-en-valise (Box in a Suitcase) Marcel Duchamp 1961 (original 1941)
Couple of Laundress's Aprons Marcel Duchamp 1959

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