Duchamp’s Endgame (3/4): Lost in Translation
In a series of essays based on his recent book Duchamp’s Endgame: Da Vinci, Dürer, Ingres, Poussin, Kendell Geers guides us through the many layers of meaning — and misunderstanding — surrounding Duchamp’s mission to put ‘art back in the service of the mind’.
In recent years, a great many books, dissertations and articles have been published that reconsider narratives and histories that excluded the contributions of artists whose race, gender or identity did not fit the white, male canon of art history. Given the art-historical importance of Marcel Duchamp, it would be tempting to assume that everything we have ever read about him is correct, its veracity guaranteed by the privilege that being a white man living in the United States would have afford (…)
