Duchamp
Love and Death, even
Published on 1. December 1998
Book
Hardback
296 pages
978-1-86189-027-6 (ISBN)
Description
Marcel Duchamp's stature in the history of art has grown steadily since the 1950s, as several artistic movements have embraced him as their founding father. But although his influence is comparable only to Picasso's, Duchamp continues to be relatively unknown outside his narrow circle of followers. This book seeks to explain his oeuvre, which has been shrouded with mystery.
Duchamp's two great preoccupations were the nature of scientific truth and a feeling for love with its natural limit, death. His works all speak of eroticism in a way that pushes the socially acceptable to its outer limits. Juan Antonio Ramirez addresses such questions as the meaning of the artist's ground-breaking ready-mades and his famous installation Etant donnes; his passionate essay reproduces all of Duchamp's important works, in addition to numerous previously unpublished visual sources. Duchamp: Love and Death, even is a seminal monograph for understanding this crucial figure of modern art.
Duchamp's two great preoccupations were the nature of scientific truth and a feeling for love with its natural limit, death. His works all speak of eroticism in a way that pushes the socially acceptable to its outer limits. Juan Antonio Ramirez addresses such questions as the meaning of the artist's ground-breaking ready-mades and his famous installation Etant donnes; his passionate essay reproduces all of Duchamp's important works, in addition to numerous previously unpublished visual sources. Duchamp: Love and Death, even is a seminal monograph for understanding this crucial figure of modern art.
Reviews / Votes
This is a book which sets out with a distinctive approach . . . Ramírezs eccentric pursuit of detail is not for nothing . . . his capricious projections work well in his account of the mechanics of Duchamps last work, Etant Donnés. * <i>Contemporary Visual Arts Magazine</i> * Its strongest and most attractive feature . . . is the identification of the two great works as the two brightest stars of a constellation that hold in their orbit a discrete network of satellite objects and artifacts. All the works discussed in the main text are held in a pattern that determines their orientation towards one or other of the two major works . . . Ramirez gives a great deal of detailed information drawn from sources taken from contemporary advertising. These images contribute a wealth of visual material that purposefully animates the pages of the book while giving the reader a visual key to the material that lies ahead. * <i>Leonardo Electronic Almanac</i> * Ramirez, in this beautifully produced, almost encyclopedic book, takes each work in turn and gives a history of its creation and a sophisticated reading of its (possible) meaning. Ramirez clearly believes that the misunderstandings surrounding Duchamps oeuvre are wilful refusals in comprehending work that has quite clear, if disturbing, import. This is not a beginners guide to Duchamp the book expects more than a passing acquaintance from its readership of the great Dadaist. But fans of Duchamp, or those whose curiosity has been whetted by such good introductions as Dawn Ades Marcel Duchamp will find Ramirez erudite volume a hugely useful addition to their library. * <i>Mark Thwaite</i> *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
295 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 245 mm
Width: 188 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-86189-027-6 (9781861890276)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2013
Reaktion Books
€34.99
Available for download
Person
Juan Antonio Ramirez is Professor of History of Art at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and the author of several books on art, architecture and film, including Duchamp: Love and Death, even (Reaktion, 1998).