Marcel Duchamp's Readymade Art

For centuries, the established conventions of art remained relatively unchanged and unchallenged. Artists were expected to demonstrate a certain degree of skill and originality in their works, whether it be through subject matter, form, or both. These conventions were considered the fundamental aspects of being an artist, to follow what the masters had established before them in order to create what had come to be accepted as art, and to go against them would be to not be an artist. That is, at least, until Marcel Duchamp submitted his now famous piece Fountain to a New York City exhibition in 1917. It was with this artwork that Duchamp paved the way for all future art movements, forcing the art world to sit back and question what makes

MUTT” etched into the side, a “readymade” as Duchamp would call it. The critics were, unsurprisingly, outraged at this piece, to the point that Fountain was even “misplaced” for the duration of the exhibition. The critics accused the creator of plagiarism, insisting that it was in no way an actual work of art, but it was wth this outcry that Duchamp accomplished exactly what he set out to do. Readymade art challenged the very basis of what art had been for centuries: an original work made by the artists themselves. With readymade art, any mass produced object could be declared art by an artist, completely undermining the originality and uniqueness that every work of art had been for centuries. Every piece of art throughout history was specially made, ensuring it would be impossible to replicate. The very concept of being able to paint the Mona Lisa or The Last Supper exactly as the same as the original is, of course, ludicrous. They are all one of a kind, and even the most dedicated attempts to remake them would never be exactly the same—as per the point of art. Readymades completely nullified this concept—especially considering the fact that none of the originals of Duchamp’s readymades still exist, any works seen in museums are remakes—leaving the power of what makes art completely in the hands of the