Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) was a French-born artist whose work helped reshape 20th-century art. After early involvement with Cubism, he became associated with Dada and later conceptual art, challenging traditional ideas of authorship and aesthetic value. Duchamp is best known for his “readymades,” ordinary manufactured objects presented as art, including *Fountain* (1917) and *L.H.O.O.Q.* (1919). He lived in the United States for long periods and became a U.S. citizen in 1955. His influence extended through later avant-garde movements, and his ideas about selection, context, and irony remain central to contemporary art.