Fountain, 1917 / Marcel Duchamp
1964 replica at the Tate Modern
Photo by David Shankbone

The readymades of Marcel Duchamp are ordinary manufactured objects that he selected then sometimes modified, as an antidote to “retinal art”. By choosing the object, giving it a title and signing it, the object became the work of the artist. He selected the pieces on the basis of “visual indifference”, and the selections reflect his sense of irony, humor and ambiguity.