Marcel Duchamp

High school (ages 12+)
Art & Creativity

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/marcel-duchamp

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Marcel Duchamp born?July 28, 1887
2. When did Marcel Duchamp die?October 2, 1968 (age 81)
3. Where was Marcel Duchamp born?Blainville-Crevon, France
4. What is Marcel Duchamp known for?Pioneering the readymade, challenging traditional art definitions, and influencing Conceptual Art
5. What is a "readymade" and why did Duchamp make them?A readymade is an everyday object chosen by the artist and presented as art. Duchamp used them to show that art can be about ideas, not just skill or beauty.
6. Why did Duchamp's "Fountain" get rejected?The gallery thought it was not art because it was a plain urinal. The rejection showed how strict old rules were about what could be called art.

Readymade: An ordinary manufactured object selected by the artist and presented as art, emphasizing the artist's choice and concept over manual skill.
Conceptual Art: An art form where the idea or concept behind the work is considered more important than the finished artistic product or its aesthetic qualities.
Avant-garde: Innovative or experimental ideas, especially in art, culture, or politics, that are ahead of their time and challenge established norms.
Dadaism: An anti-art and anti-rational movement that emerged during World War I, characterized by its rejection of logic, reason, and bourgeois values.