Beschreibung:

Marcel Duchamp Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2 (Nu descendant un escalier No. 2) 1937 Pochoir-colored reproduction of Nude Descending a Staircase and a French 5-centime revenue stamp, on heavy wove paper, with narrow margins on three sides (as issued), I. 12 5/8 x 7 3/4 in (32.1 x 19.7 cm); S. 13 7/8 x 7 7/8 in (35.2 x 20 cm) from a limited edition of unknown size, printed by Duchamp for his friends, signed and dated `Dec 37' in ink on the stamp, minor wear at upper right corner (affecting image slightly), slight compound creasing at lower right corner, affixed to the support at the reverse of the corners, otherwise in very good condition, framed.
Literature Arturo Schwarz 458; Francis M. Naumann 5.20 Catalogue Essay Marcel Duchamp spent much of his time during the summer of 1937 assembling items for his Boîte-en-valise [Box in a Valise], the portable museum in a suitcase that consisted of small-scale reproductions of his earlier work. Since the project was getting increasingly expensive, he decided to issue five hand-colored pochoirs of select paintings that would be included in the valise. In the end, he produced only two: one of his famous Nu descendant un escallier [Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2] and another of his Mariée [Bride]. A pochoir is a hand-colored reproduction made by means of stencils (pochoir in French), which Duchamp thought produced a more accurate visual image than color photography. At first, he had the idea of issuing 250 reproductions of each painting and selling them at the price of $1 each, but, in the end, he produced far fewer (the exact number is unknown). The differences that exist between an original and its copy are not only concerns that affect the world of art, but they are matters of critical importance within the legal profession. Duchamp was keenly aware of this fact, for his father had worked as a notary, serving for many years in the town where the artist was born and raised, Blainville-Crevon (not far from the city of Rouen in Normandy). The young Duchamp would have had many opportunities to witness the activities of his father, who was frequently called upon to authenticate the validity of legal documents, deeds, trusts, real estate transactions, and property settlements. After these papers had been carefully reviewed, the notary applies his signature over the surface of a small-denomination postage stamp (timbre fiscal), a practice still followed in France to this very day, thereby diminishing the potential for forgery and elevating the status of a document to legal tender. Duchamp followed this very same procedure when he issued these deluxe, hand-colored pochoirs of his earlier paintings. He was, in effect, following the same procedure utilized by his father, but here ingeniously validating the authenticity and faithful reproduction of his own work. The Nude Descending a Staircase was painted in January of 1912, so the year 2012 celebrates the 100th year of its making (the original painting is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Collection of Louise and Walter Arensberg). It was made famous a year later when shown in the Armory Show in New York (February 15 - March 15, 1913), where it was the cause célèbre of the exhibition. The 100th anniversary of the Armory Show will be celebrated next year with two museum exhibitions: one at the Montclair Art Museum (February 17 – June 16, 2013) and another at the New York Historical Society (October 18, 2013 – February 23, 2014). Read More