Dialogues with Marcel Duchamp by Pierre Cabanne

This book represents the most extensive spoken commentary by Duchamp and possesses a special charm by virtue of the simplicity with which the artist conveys his approach to his life, work and art. Passages from the book will find their way into school textbooks introducing children to the subject of modern art, as well as complex texts on the philosophy of art, aesthetics and the history of twentieth-century art. Duchamp offers a completely new perspective on the history of representation and the function of art, and is essential reading for those wishing to have an informed opinion regarding the tempestuous development of art in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The ground-breaking importance of Duchamp’s oeuvre, which challenges the development of artistic representation, only began to be grasped in its wider context thanks to practitioners and theoreticians of conceptual art, minimalist art and pop art at the start of the sixties. This book make a significant contribution to the shift in the centre of gravity from retinal to cerebral, a shift that typified the latter half of the twentieth century.

In addition to the conversations, the book includes prefaces by Pierre Cabanne to the three editions from 1966, 1976 and 1995. These texts examine how the interviews were received and chart the reactions they provoked.