Marcel Duchamp's Painting Retrospective at Centre Pompidou

The Centre Pompidou in Paris presents "Marcel Duchamp, la peinture même," a retrospective curated by Cécile Debray that focuses on Duchamp's little-known painting practice. The exhibition, described by Libération as "erudite and didactic," features 50 works primarily from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It traces Duchamp's evolution through nine chronological rooms, comparing his work with contemporaries such as Cézanne, Gauguin, Matisse, Kandinsky, and Delaunay, and movements like Fauvism, Cubism, and Futurism. Duchamp sought to "put painting at the service of the spirit," distancing himself from the physical act. The show includes thematic sections on eroticism, nudes, the mechanization of Cubism, and the "organic unconscious," culminating in "The Large Glass" (one of four copies by Ulf Linde under Duchamp's supervision). Also featured is a model of "Étant donnés," created secretly between 1946 and 1966 in New York. The exhibition notably omits Rrose Sélavy, Duchamp's female alter ego, though her presence is felt through copyrights on works like "Fresh Widow" and "Anémic Cinéma." The show runs until January 5, 2015.