Marcel Duchamp Retrospective

This exhibition was the first retrospective for the French artist Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968). Around 113 works from Duchamp’s oeuvre were on view, drawing from approximately 25 private collections and museums in the United States and Europe. The works on display incorporated a variety of mediums, including painting, sculpture, graphic art and Duchamp’s characteristic readymades. It was the largest assembly of works by the artist to date. Notable works included Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, (1912); The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (Large Glass) (1915–23); and Bicycle Wheel (4^th version) (1961). Several works on display are currently held in the Norton Simon Museum collection, including Nine Malic Moulds, 2^nd version (1963) and Couple of Laundress’s Aprons (1959). The artist attended the opening reception for the exhibition on October 7. While documenting the exhibition on that day, LA photographer Julian Wasser staged his famous photograph of Duchamp playing chess with Eve Babitz, who posed in the nude.