Jump to navigation
Collection search
Archive search
This exhibition, organized by the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in collaboration with the Tate Modern, London, is devoted to three key 20th-century artists: Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), Man Ray (1890-1976) and Francis Picabia (1879-1953), three provocative figures who revolutionized the established artistic norms, marking a turning point in the world of art. Indeed, their mark can be seen in many of the creations of contemporary art.
The show brings together over 300 works: paintings, photographs, drawings, films and objects; worthy of note are Duchamp's famous ready-mades, such as Fountain, a urinal placed on its back, a clear example of how they made the foundations of art quake by questioning the very concept of the work of art.
Marcel Duchamp and Francis Picabia were born in France and became friends in Paris. During the First World War, the two French artists took refuge in New York. There, in 1915, together with the American Man Ray, they were at the centre of the Dadaist movement in the city, where they forged a three-way friendship that lasted until the ends of their lives.
The exhibition looks precisely at the impact this friendship had on their careers as artists. Through the works we see the shared fascination for machines, movement, eroticism or the experimentation with light and transparencies, which led Man Ray to invent the rayographs.
The visit ends with a large selection of documents (Temporary Exhibition Room 2), testimony to the experiences, the exchange of ideas and the shared games; among these games, chess takes pride of place.
Exhibition organised by Tate Modern, London.