Marcel Duchamp: Write Me Often, Just a Line or Two

09/26/23 • 35 min

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It’s July 1942, and the artist Marcel Duchamp has recently arrived in New York City after fleeing the Nazis in Vichy France. As he settles in, he writes to his longtime friend and fellow artist Man Ray, who is living in California. In this casual letter, Duchamp asks Man Ray for help. He needs buyers for his latest artwork: a suitcase containing miniatures of many of his most famous pieces, from the mass-produced urinal he signed his name to and called art to his mustachioed Mona Lisa. He ends with a short, cryptic note about his romantic partner, Mary, who has stayed behind in France to join the resistance.

In this episode of Recording Artists: Intimate Addresses, you’ll meet the man behind some of the most controversial and influential artworks of the 20th century. Anna Deavere Smith voices the letter. Host Tess Taylor unpacks Duchamp’s wit, his decades-long friendship with Man Ray, and how he used his own archive to create new works of art. Photographer Dayanita Singh shares her experiences mining her own archive and art historian T. J. Demos weighs in on the artist’s life and legacy.

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The Getty Patron Program is a proud sponsor of this podcast.

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Season 2 Coming Soon—Intimate Addresses

In Season 2 of Recording Artists, titled Intimate Addresses, each episode unpacks one letter from one artist, including Marcel Duchamp, Frida Kahlo, M. C. Richards, Benjamin Patterson, Nam June Paik, and Meret Oppenheim. Anna Deavere Smith reads the letters while our host, poet Tess Taylor, speaks with modern-day creators and historians to explore the artists’ lives. The season launches September 26, 2023. Stay tuned!

Next Episode

M. C. Richards: I Am Dancing with These Words Around You

By 1956, M. C. Richards has earned a PhD in English, taught poetry at Black Mountain College, gotten married (and divorced) twice, dedicated herself to pottery, helped found an artists’ cooperative alongside creators like John Cage, and become deeply romantically involved with avant-garde musician David Tudor. Tudor is often on the road, but luckily Richards is an incredible letter-writer. In her notes to him, she plays with language and sends messages of love, all while keeping Tudor up to date on his business as a touring musician, which she often seems to be managing, and on life back home.

Although Richards is relatively unknown today, she was a key connector in a circle of some of the most impressive artists, dancers, and musicians of her day. Her letters paint a picture of a lively and magnetic artist. She would go on to write a groundbreaking book on her philosophy of craft that continues to deeply influence contemporary artists.

In this episode of Recording Artists: Intimate Addresses, host Tess Taylor illuminates this vibrant and underrecognized artist, highlighting the many ways in which she was a woman ahead of her time. Anna Deavere Smith voices the letter. Art historian Jenni Sorkin and potter and dancer Ashwini Bhat, both of whom have been inspired by Richards’ philosophies of craft and approach to life, share their insights into her life and work.

The Getty Patron Program is a proud sponsor of this podcast.