Marcel Duchamp et l'érotisme: A Scholarly Collection

A new collective volume edited by Marc Décimo, published by Les Presses du Réel, delves into the erotic dimension of Marcel Duchamp's work. The book gathers texts from French and Anglo-Saxon academics as well as members of the Collège de Pataphysique. It explores Duchamp's own statement from a 1959 BBC interview with Richard Hamilton, where he declared eroticism a cherished preoccupation that gave life to his work, notably The Large Glass. The choice of the pseudonym Rose Sélavy—an anagram of "éros"—further underscores this theme. The collection examines works from Nude Descending a Staircase (1913) to Étant donnés (1946–1966), including Fountain (1917), The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (1912–1923), and L.H.O.O.Q. (1919). Some texts take eroticism as a starting point to analyze Duchamp's relationships with other 20th-century artists like Picasso, Dalí, Beuys, and Demuth. Others recall early 20th-century mores, morality, and censorship. The volume risks presenting Duchamp's ambiguous, intelligent, and chiaroscuro-tinged oeuvre in too univocal a light.