Lot 144
  • 144

Duchamp, Marcel

Estimate
12,000 - 18,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • ink and pape
“La gaia pittura.” Autograph manuscript signed and dated twice ‘Marcel Duchamp 1952’; in black ink. 1 page folio (16 3/4 x 12 3/4 in.; 425 x 325 mm). Pasted on black cardboard and framed. Edges browned and fragile, dampstain on the lower margin without reaching the ink of the manuscript.

Provenance

Property from the estate of Enrico Donati

Literature

Paul Matisse, Marcel Duchamp: Notes, 2008 (new edition) –Timothy Anglin Burgard, The Surreal World of Enrico Donati, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2007, n° 67, p. 60

Condition

Edges browned and fragile, damp stain on the lower margin without reaching the ink of the manuscript.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

From his Dada period and his friendship with Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp has always been fascinated by wordplays and puns which he described himself as his own form of poetry. They are part of his work and he used them for the titles of his paintings like The bride stripped bare by her bachelors, even or his own interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa: L.H.O.O.Q., and for his well-known pseudonyms R. Mutt or Rrose Selavy. It is all part of his provocative humour but also a reminiscence of Dada poetry. These puns can actually be seen as Duchamp autograph poems.

Most of his autograph puns are drafts compiled by Alexina Duchamp and her son Paul Matisse and retained in Marcel Duchamp's archives in Philadelphia Museum of Art. Most of them have been published in Paul Matisse, Marcel Duchamp: Notes, 1980. Only one other example of an autograph pun by Duchamp has been sold during the last 20 years: "Sa robe est noire dit Sarah Bernhardt."

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Association Marcel Duchamp.