Marcel Duchamp
Suite d'ombres transparents. Octavio Paz, Marcel Duchamp ou le Chateau de la Pureté
1967
16 colour silkscreens in white on acetate foil Each 23.8 x 17.8 cm Framed together under acrylic glass (double-sided). Included to the edition: Octavio Paz, Marcel Duchamp ou le Château de la Pureté, Paris 1967. With the bound suite of 16 colour silkscreens on the back of the text pages. The imprint signed by Octavio Paz and Marcel Duchamp and numbered "58" in ink resp. ballpoint pen. Together with the card portfolio for the separate suite in a black covered original card slipcase 24.6 x 18.5 cm. Exemplar 58/100 of the deluxe edition of a total edtition of 606. Éditions Claude Givaudan, Paris 1967. - The proofs in excellent condition. Book and portfolio with minimal handling marks, minor rubbing to card slipcase.
Marcel Duchamp's silkscreens refer to two of his major works, Bicycle Wheel from 1913 and the readymade Bottle Rack from 1914 (cf. Arturo Schwarz, The complete works of Marcel Duchamp, New York 2000, no. 278, p. 588 f., no. 306 p. 610 ff.).
The shadow prints of these two sculptural works were combined to one motif, the silkscreen printed white on acetate film and broken up into 16 individual segments so that, when arranged next to one another and with suitable lighting, they then reappear on the wall as a silhouette of the original. The self-referential work is a good example of Duchamp's dadaistic humour.
Catalogue Raisonné
Schwarz 641
Provenance
Private possession, Rhineland