Marcel Duchamp · Nu descendant un escalier nº2

1912 – Oil on canvas – Philadelphia Museum of Art

One of the most audacious paintings of the early 20th century avant-gardes. Duchamp’s ‘nus’ are half-cubist, half-futurist, even half-dada icons, in which the multiplication of points of view creates an outstanding sensation of movement.

The interpretation of the human body as a moving machine is a purely futurist idea in which the development of chronophotography and the beginnings of cinematography played an important role. Shortly after these compositions, Duchamp began his “dada” period, with his famous “ready-mades” and his iconic “urinals”.

Text by G. Fernández, theartwolf.com