T.

C
ISTANBUL BILGI UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF COMMUNICATION
ARTS AND CULTURAL MANAGEMENT

ART HISTORY (ART206.01)

COMPARISON AND ANALYSIS OF MARCEL DUCHAMP AND MAN

RAY

By
Damla Su ÖZCAN
119390010

FINAL ASSIGNMENT

Assoc. Prof. Seda YAVUZ

ISTANBUL, 2021
 DADAISM, MARCEL DUCHAMP AND MAN RAY

Dadaism
It is impossible to separate the artist from the individual and the individual from the society.
When we look at the history of art, since revolutions and diseases, especially in times of war,
affect the outer and inner worlds of artists, these situations have enabled them to change and
diversify their thoughts on understanding and shaping art, more precisely. As Vladimir Lenin
said in 1917, “war adds great speed to events”. Dadaism was an "anti-art" movement that
emerged to protest the brutality of the First World War and the shallow expressions of
societies and art in the face of war. In this anti-art movement, they did not only oppose the
horrors of war, but also made the traditional values of the ongoing art in their works full of
absurd and "accidental" references (collage, photomontage, use of everyday objects) by
provoking and angering the audience. The reason for this was that while millions of people
lost their lives in the war, the existing concepts of beautiful aesthetics were unnecessary. We
see coincidences and absurdities not only in his work in various fields, but also in the word
"Dada", which means nothing. The word was coined by Tristan Tzara in 1916 while
rummaging through his dictionary. In French its means wooden horse toy and in Slavic
languages its means yes, yes. As much as they did not feel like they belonged to a movement,
I will evaluate Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray within the Dadaism movement and finally
make a comparison of the two.
 Marcel Duchamp (28 July 1887- 2 October 1968)

Marcel Duchamp is one of the artists of French origin that we call

“avant-garde”. His works are primarily post-impressionist,
fauvist and cubist; however, it is still not strictly tied to any style.
Marcel Duchamp, in his own words, turned his back on "retinal
art" when the provocative work, which is intertwined, which has
the effects of futurism and cubism, which we also see in his work
"The Nude Descending the Staircase", after the transition period
he spent with his mathematics education and his effort to paint
the fourth dimension, was criticized.
Today, when Duchamp is mentioned, the concept of “readymade”
Şekil 1 Ray, M. (1921). Label for the Belle Haleine [Photograph].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Label_for_the_Belle_Haleine_cropped.png
comes directly to people's minds. It is normal for this to be so
because he is the pioneer of this concept. The concept we call "readymade" is actually
Duchamp's "What is art?" by displaying ready-made objects produced for daily use in New
York with different ways and destroying materialist concepts. It makes audiences question the
question again.

While ironically breaking down these questionings and conventions,

Duchamp argued that everyday objects should be considered "works of
art" simply because they were re-selected from the artist's point of view
and displayed in a different way. On the side, a bicycle wheel that he
sits on the kitchen stool we see in the photo is his oldest “readymade”
work ( A Bicycle Wheel). To be honest, if I came across something like
this today or showed it to other people no one would call it a "work of
art." Actually this is what Duchamp wants to think of, because our
ongoing understanding of "art" and "aesthetics" is thus destroyed and
Şekil 2 MARCEL DUCHAMP WITH HIS ROUE DE BICYCLETTE
(BICYCLE WHEEL), ONE OF HIS READY MADE WORKS OF ART.
we begin to question; Is it the idea or the artwork that counts? (n.d.). [Photograph]. Manhattan Arts International.
https://manhattanarts.com/marcel-duchamp-stirred-controversy-
and-influence/
 His most sensational piece and the first time
everyone sees it, “I wonder is he kidding us?” the
work he calls “Fountain”. This is actually a urinal
placed upside down with “R.Mutt 1917” written on
it. After his work was rejected by the New York
Independents, M. Duchamp said, “R.Mutt has
chosen this everyday object and replace with a new
perspective and a world has been recreated.” and
he argued. Unfortunately, the original of the work
has been lost, but a replica was made later in 1964,
this time it was sold, and it was cheaper than the
"original" work. Here too, we understand that what
matters in the art market is not the originality of the

Şekil 3 Duchamp, M. (1917). Fountain [Readymade sculpture]. idea, but the originality of the work.
Https://En.Wikipedia.Org/Wiki/File:Marcel_Duchamp,_1917,_Fountain,_photograph_by_Alfred_Stieglitz.J
pg.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marcel_Duchamp,_1917,_Fountain,_photograph_by_Alfred_Stieglitz.

What we see on the left is Duchamp's work in 1919,

in which he mocked Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona
Lisa, one of the symbols of Dadaism. He added a
mustache and beard to the face of Mona Lisa on the
postcard, and wrote the French wordplay
L.H.O.O.Q. meaning "she got hot ass". On the right
is the work that he left unfinished and called “now
completed” by himself after it cracked while being
exhibited, with wire, foil, oil paint, powder and
lacquer between two layers of glass. This work is
Şekil 5 Duchamp, M. (1919). L.H.O.O.Q. [Readymade]. Şekil 4 Duchamp, M. (195–1923). The Bride Stripped Bare
Wikipedia. by Her Bachelors [Artwork]. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marcel_Duchamp,_191
9,_L.H.O.O.Q.jpg
confusingly difficult to decipher as it is an illusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bride_Stripped_Bare_
by_Her_Bachelors,_Even

of illusion. We see that he showed mechanical and biological functions in this work. The
work has become an important image for artists and is his most interesting work, which he
stated that he did not make "art for the eye" as he said.
 Man Ray ( 27 August 1890 – 18 November 1976)

Man Ray is recognized as "the most avant-garde

photographer" in art history, "the chameleon of the art
world" and one of the 25 most influential artists of the
20th century. He started out as a painter at first, but later
became a master in photography, sculpture and film art.
His works provoked the emotions of the audience and
surprised them and made them like them. He was
influenced by different currents such as Marcel
Duchamp but still did not fully commit himself to a
style. In his first painting works, we see the effects of
cubism when he met Picasso. For example, the “The
Black Tray” he made with layered shapes. He met
Marcel Duchamp in 1913 or 1914, and then they
worked as soul mates, never to be separated. They are
mutually influenced by each other. We can understand
Şekil 6 Ray, M. (1932). Suicide [Self-Portrait]. Man Ray Photo.Com. http://www.manray-
this from the state of movement in Ray's paintings. photo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=854&language=en&osCsid=2061c26999c12432a
12c260b9a28c37d

Şekil 7 Ray, M. (1914). The Black Tray [Still-life]. Wikiart. Şekil 8 Ray, M. (1916). İp Cambazına Kendi Gölgesi Eşlik Eder [Painting]. Wannart. Şekil 9 Ray, M. (1920). L’Enigme d’Isidore Ducasse [Artwork]. TATE.
https://www.wikiart.org/en/man-ray/the-black-tray https://wannart.com/icerik/8179-cok-yonlu-bir-sanatci-man-ray https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/man-ray-lenigme-disidore-ducasse-t07957

Later, Ray, Duchamp, and Picabia organized the Dada

movement in New York. Meanwhile, one of his most important
works is the Isidore Ducasse Enigma, in which a sewing
machine is covered with military fabric, thread and felt. Then,
his work called “The Gift”, which he made by combining
various objects and placing nails under the iron, was found to be
Şekil 10 Ray, M. (1921b). The Gift [Sculpture]. Wikipedia.
different as he changed the purpose of the iron and turned it into https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gift_(sculpture)

a work of art. After moving to Paris, he found the technique called "rayograph" in the field of
photography. With this technique, negative images were obtained. In addition, when we look
at his photographs, we see that he plays in the photographs by using different materials and
colors.
Şekil 12 Ray, M. (1932a). Glass Tears [Photograph]. Google Arts&Culture. Şekil 11 Ray, M. (1926). Noire et Blanche [Photograph]. Google Arts&Culture.
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/glass-tears-man- https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/_/jgFtjUi0aPaZzA
ray/eQGyMgKGZZiFAg?hl=tr

Şekil 13 Ray, M. (1924). Ingres’s Violin [Photograph]. Google

Arts&Culture. https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/ingres’s-
violin-man-ray/kQGJ3YIoasGh0A?hl=tr

Man Ray has also photographed financially famous fashion magazines and various artists,
especially literary figures. But unlike Duchamp, he took nude photographs, especially nudes
of women. This reminded me of Manet's Olympia. Even today, while our view of nudity is
not normal, especially for the female body, Man Ray normalized it and became a cultural icon
for photographers of his time.

In summary, both Duchamp and Ray were

influenced by many movements, but they still did not
feel fully committed to one style. With their work,
they moved on to art history and philosophy as
"avant-garde" artists. We see that Duchamp gives his
works in random ways with “readymade” and works
with surrealists from different perspectives in Man
Ray. In my opinion, Man Ray is more
"experimental" than "random", especially with his
manipulations in his photographs.
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