Posted 11 years ago
ho2cultcha
(5042 items)
i think this has been my best ebay find so far. the whole booklet is fascinating loaded w/ meaning and humor - duchamp style. the show was very interesting w/ lots of drama and creativity. he spoke very fondly about it up until shortly before he died. the book and the show was carefully designed by duchamp in his very offbeat manner.
i just added the 1942 Superman image.
you can see many more images of this book here:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCVkpqt
the theme of the 1942 surrealism show seems to have been 'seeing through' as in lenses or the swiss cheese on the back page [which is actually printed w/ the info of the first page]. the first page has holes in it which represent 4 bullets duchamp shot at a stone wall on a farm belonging to Kurt Seligman which he visited. The gun which he used is the same gun which Kurt accidentally shot and killed himself with in 1962.
the theme of 'seeing through' and the act of seeing remained a primary theme throughout Duchamp's life. All of his work is full of meaning and humor - even the most mundane and gritty pieces. He is often considered the most important artist of the 20th century.
There is a print of Superman on one page and this is very early on - just 4 years after Superman was first published. I think it's the first time that a work of art was derived from a comic strip. Many of the pieces shown were manipulated by Duchamp in some subtle way - sometimes as a joke between him and the artist. There's a very interesting Picasso in there too.
you can see lots more photos of the book here:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCVkpqt
I think that this piece is a real treasure and i'm so glad i found it on ebay for a price i could afford!
Thanks again for sharing and for the link too!
you're welcome vetrain50!
thanks bellin68!