Marcel Duchamp

Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery, New York (acquired directly from the artist)
Arturo Schwarz, Milan (acquired from the above in 1965)
Galerie 1900-2000, Paris (acquired from the above)
Sale: Sotheby's, London, July 1, 1998, lot 148
Acquired at the above sale

New York, Bourgeois Gallery, Exhibition of Modern Art, 1916, n.n.
New York, Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery, Not Seen and/or Less Seen of/by Marcel Duchamp/Rrose Sélavy 1904-64, 1965, no. M35
Milan, Galleria Schwarz, Duchamp: 66 Creative Years, from the first painting to the last drawing, 1972-73, no. 58bis, illustrated in the catalogue
Munich, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus & Tubingen, Kunsthalle, New York Dada, Duchamp-Man Ray-Picabia, 1973-74, no. 17, illustrated in the catalogue
Caracas, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, El espiritu Dada, 1980, illustrated in the catalogue
Beijing, The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, DUCHAMP AND/OR/IN CHINA, 2013, n.n., illustrated in color in the catalogue

Man Ray & Adolf Wolff, eds., TNT, New York, March 1919, illustrated on an unpaginated insert
Arturo Schwarz, The Complete Works of Marcel Duchamp, vol. II, New York, 1997, no. 337, illustrated p. 641
Francis M. Naumann, Marcel Duchamp, The Art of Making Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, New York, 1999, fig. 3.11, illustrated p. 69
Francis M. Naumann, The Recurrent, Haunting Ghost, New York, 2012, fig. 4.6, illustrated in color p. 42

10 silver gelatin print photograph strips mounted on brown card with a black painted rectangle surrounding the photographs; mounted on card with four punched holes along the upper edge by the artist, rendering the incription on the verso of the brown card inaccesible. There are remnants of old framer's tape on the verso, the tips of which are visible along the edges of the recto. The artist's original mount is hinged with japan paper to the mount at three points along the upper and lower edges and at the center of the left and right edges. A close inspection reveals two tiny nicks along the edge of the largest photograph and some faint old glue stains around the edge of the photograph strips which are inherent to the artistic process. Apart from some wear to the perimeter of the punched holes and some light discoloration and tiny spots of foxing towards the edge of the artist's mount, this work is in very good original condition.
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.

The present work represents Duchamp’s first attempt to present his notes for the Large Glass in a format that could be published, for he always felt that the intricate workings of this elaborate construction could not be fully understood without consulting the notes, which he thought could be used in the form of a guide. The note he selected to begin this process was Combat de boxe (Boxing Match), a diagram for a complex mechanical structure that was supposed to be incorporated into the upper-right section of the Bachelor’s Domain, just below the horizontal division that was to separate the upper and lower sections of the glass (as indicated in an etching made in 1965 entitled The Large Glass Completed, see fig. 1). He began by transcribing the hand-written notes that accompany the original diagram and, using a typewriter he had borrowed from Walter Arensberg, typed their texts onto a single sheet of paper. The separate passages of text were then cut into small strips of paper and, along with the original drawing, mounted to a single sheet of paper.

Duchamp then arranged for this montage—consisting of the original drawing and typed strips of paper—to be photographed. From the print, Duchamp then carefully cut out the image of the drawing and text, which, in turn, he reassembled onto a sheet of dark brown paper in a format that closely matched the original assemblage, producing, in effect, a photomontage that replicated the appearance of the original montage: the present work. He then punched holes into one end of the paper, so as to place the sheet into a three-ring binder, presumably with the intent of repeating the process with other notes prepared in the same fashion that he could easily place into whatever sequence he desired. So far as we know, the idea of assembling the notes in this fashion never advanced beyond this single sheet, but the idea of publishing them was resumed some fifteen years later in Paris. By then, however, he decided it would be easier to present the notes in a facsimile edition (thereby avoiding the difficult task of having to painstakingly transcribe each note individually).

The present work was shown for the first time in an Exhibition of Modern Art at the Bourgeois Galleries in New York in 1916, listed, curiously, under the category of “Water-Colors and Drawings/Pastels and Monotypes.” Apparently, Duchamp created the photomontage to facilitate a reading of the original note, but he was certainly aware of the fact that few Americans would have been able to understand the French text, even when typed, or, for that matter, even if it had been translated; virtually no one outside of Duchamp’s closest circle of friends would have had even the slightest inkling of how this detail related to his work on the Large Glass.

The present work was reproduced for the first time in Man Ray’s TNT, a single-issue review that appeared in March 1919. At some point, Man Ray returned the work to Duchamp, who consigned it to the Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery for his exhibition there in 1965. It was likely at this time that he added the inscription to the mount below indicating that Combat de boxe (Boxing Match) was made for a part of the Large Glass that was never realized.
 

We are grateful to Francis Naumann for his invaluable research and collaboration in compiling this note.