Eroticism, science and humor collide in the work of these two close
friends
Dalí/Duchamp takes a detailed look at the little-explored relationship
between two of the 20th century's most famous artists. The two might
seem like polar opposites at first glance--Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968),
the father of conceptual art who rejected painting in 1918, appears to
have little in common with the showmanlike Salvador Dalí (1904-89), the
exceptional Surrealist painter of fantastical landscapes. But the two
men were united by a unique combination of humor and skepticism that led
both to challenge conventional views of art and life in their own
respective ways.
Beyond their shared thematic concerns, the artists knew and respected
each other. After meeting in the 1930s through mutual contacts within
the Surrealist group, Duchamp and Dalí maintained a firm friendship over
the following decades, spending time together in Paris, New York and
Catalonia, where Duchamp purchased a summer house in Cadaqués, close to
Dalí's home in Port Lligat.
Throughout this volume, expert contributors explore themes common to
both artists, chief among them eroticism and identity, and both men's
engagement with science, optics, religion and myth. Each section of the
book is sumptuously illustrated with key pieces from both artists'
bodies of work and features previously unpublished photographs, letters
and ephemera that testify to the enduring warmth of their friendship.
Dalí/Duchamp offers a fresh understanding of the work of two seminal
artists of the 20th century.
