Marcel Duchamp

Galerie 1900-2000, Paris
Acquired from the above by Dr. Arthur Brandt on October 3, 2001

Boone, Turchin Center for the Arts, The Omnipotent Dream: Man Ray, Confluences and Influences, 2003, illustrated in the catalogue p. 24, listed p. 34
Ithaca, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, A Private Eye: Dada, Surrealism and More from the Brandt Collection, 2006, illustrated in the catalogue p. 37

Robert Lebel, Sur Marcel Duchamp, Paris, 1959, illustration of another version pl. 118
Arturo Schwarz, The Complete Works of Marcel Duchamp, London, 1997, vol. II, no. 523, illustration of another example from the edition p. 788
Francis M. Naumann, Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Making Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, New York, 1999, fig. 6.23, illustration in colour of another example p. 167

Book cover with balck velvet and form breast, in a presentation box. There are some loss to the velvet in places and three small holes in the velvet. The velvet is quite dusty. The velvet has probably been restored. There are some surface dirt adhering to the breast. The first plate and the back of the original folders are light stained, with some scattered stains. There is some foxing on the second plate. The upper joint is slightly split and the stitching is slighly loose p. 120. There is some minor wear to the presentation box, which is not the original one, a new one was made. Otherwise this work is in good 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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The exhibition catalogue, presented in a cardboard slip-case, contains numerous lithographs, etchings and woodcuts by several of the participating artists, including Miro, Ernst, Brauner, Tanguy, Calder and Matta. Label affixed to the back cover of the publication: PRIERE DE TOUCHER. This deluxe publication is one of 950 copies of Le Surréalisme en 1947, the catalogue published in conjunction with the exhibition held at the Galerie Maeght, Paris in 1947. A further 49 copies were co-signed by André Breton and Marcel Duchamp. The deluxe edition's cover was ornamented with a false, foam-rubber breast, mounted on black velvet (number unknown), while the regular trade edition contained the photograph of an actual human breast. The covers with the foam breast and the label PRIERE DE TOUCHER were assembled in New York in 1947 by Duchamp, in collaboration with the Italian-born American painter Enrico Donati. There were many hundreds to prepare and Donati remarked "By the end, we were fed up but we got the job done" later recalling that "I had never thought I would get tired of handling so many breasts" to which Duchamp retorted "Maybe that's the whole idea".