Research Catalog

Title

Spellbound by Marcel : Duchamp, love, and art / Ruth Brandon.

Author

Brandon, Ruth

Publication

New York : Pegasus Books, 2022.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xii, 241 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color); 24 cm

Summary

"In 1915, a group of French artists fled war-torn Europe for New York. In the few months between their arrival--and America's entry into the war in April 1917--they pushed back the boundaries of the possible, in both life and art. The vortex of this transformation was the apartment at 33 West 67th Street, owned by Walter and Louise Arensberg, where artists and poets met nightly to talk, eat, drink, discuss each others' work, play chess, plan balls, organise magazines and exhibitions, and fall in and out of love. At the center of all this activity stood the mysterious figure of Marcel Duchamp, always approachable, always unreadable. His exhibit of a urinal, which he called Fountain, briefly shocked the New York art world before falling, like its perpetrator, into obscurity. Many people (of both sexes) were in love with Duchamp. Henri-Pierre Roché and Beatrice Wood were among them; they were also, briefly, and (for her) life-changingly, in love with each other. Both kept daily diaries, which give an intimate picture of the events of those years. Or rather two pictures--for the views they offer, including of their own love affair, are stunningly divergent. Spellbound by Marcel follows Duchamp, Roché, and Beatrice as they traverse the twentieth century. Roché became the author of Jules and Jim, made into a classic film by François Truffaut. Beatrice became a celebrated ceramicist. Duchamp fell into chess-playing obscurity until, decades later, he became famous for a second time--as Fountain was elected the twentieth century's most influential artwork"--Book jacket flap.

Alternative Title

Duchamp, love, and art

Subject

• Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968
• Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968 > Friends and associates
• Roché, Henri Pierre, 1879-1959
• Wood, Beatrice
• 1900-1999
• Artists > France > 20th century
• Authors > 20th century
• Artists
• Authors
• Friendship
• France

Genre/Form

Biographies.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages [231]-232) and index.

Contents

Introduction -- Part one: Prewar. The Armory Show, 1913 ; Marcel, 1912 -- Part two: Wartime. Marcel, 1915 ; Marcel, New York, 1915 ; Beatrice, 1916 ; Artistic life, New York, 1916 ; Pierre, 1917 ; The Blind Man ; Mr. Mutt's foundation ; Beatrice's sentimental education ; The buddha of the bathroom ; Pierre's American loves, 1917 ; Leaving New York 1: Beatrice ; Leaving New York 2: Pierre ; Leaving New York 3: Marcel -- Part three: Between continents. Marcel, Paris, 1919 ; True love: Man Ray, Picabia, Pierre, and Marcel ; Mary ; Marcel married: Paris, 1927 ; Marcel discovers love -- Part four: Late fame. Beatrice ; Pierre ; Marcel ; Surviving Marcel.

Call Number

JFE 22-2495

ISBN

• 1643138618
• 9781643138619

OCLC

1259048402

Author

Brandon, Ruth, author.

Title

Spellbound by Marcel : Duchamp, love, and art / Ruth Brandon.

Publisher

New York : Pegasus Books, 2022.

Edition

First Pegasus Books cloth edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages [231]-232) and index.

Chronological Term

1900-1999

Research Call Number

JFE 22-2495