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MARCEL DUCHAMP (1887-1968) COMB inscribed "3 OU 4 GOUTTES DE HAUTEUR N'ONT RIEN À FAIRE AVEC LA...

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MARCEL DUCHAMP (1887-1968) COMB inscribed  3 OU 4 GOUTTES DE HAUTEUR N'ONT RIEN À FAIRE AVEC LA...
MARCEL DUCHAMP (1887-1968) COMB inscribed "3 OU 4 GOUTTES DE HAUTEUR N'ONT RIEN À FAIRE AVEC LA SAUVAGERIE" along the edge in white paint; initialed "M.D." along the right edge; dated "FEB. 17. 1916 11. A.M." along the left edge; inscribed with signature and date "Marcel Duchamp 1964" in the center; inscribed "Marcel Duchamp 1964 Ex Arturo" and engraved "PEIGNE 1916 EDITION GALERIE SCHWARZ, MILAN" on copper plate affixed to the artist's wooden storage case gray steel dog comb enclosed in artist's wooden storage case comb: 1/8 x 61/2 x 13/4 in. (.4 x 16.5 x 4.4 cm) artist's wooden storage case: 3/4 x 71/4 x 21/2 in. (1.9 x 18.4 x 6.4 cm) executed 1916-1964 The original, produced in 1916, is in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the present lot was made under the artist's supervision; it is an artist's proof, dedicated to Arturo Schwarz, from an edition of eight plus one replica reserved for the artist and two replicas made for museum exhibition purposes. ESTIMATE: - $200,000-300,000 In 1964, Duchamp described this Readymade as "An ordinary metal dog comb on which I inscribed a nonsensical phrase: 3 OU 4 GOUTTES DE HAUTEUR N'ONT RIEN A FAIRE AVEC LA SAUVAGERIE, which can be translated as follows: Three or four steps of height have nothing to do with savagery." The precise date and hour inscribed on the piece reflect a Green Box note in which Duchamp speaks of "Planning for a moment to come (on such a day, such a date, such a minute) to inscribe a readymade-the readymade can later be looked for (with all kinds of delays)." Duchamp also cynically remarked that "During the 48 years since it was chosen as a Readymade this little iron comb had kept the characteristics of a true Readymade: no beauty, no ugliness, nothing particularly aesthetic about it... it was not even stolen in all these 48 years!" (A. Schwarz, The Complete Works of Marcel Duchamp, New York, 2000, p. 643.) PROVENANCE Dedicated by the artist to Arturo Schwarz, 1964 EXHIBITED STOCKHOLM, Galerie Burén, MARCEL DUCHAMP RéTROSPECTIVE, April-May 1963 (another example exhibited) Pasadena, Pasadena Art Museum, MARCEL DUCHAMP: A RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION, October 8-November 3, 1963, no. 58 (another example exhibited) MILAN, Galleria Schwarz, OMAGGIO A MARCEL DUCHAMP, June 5-September 30, 1964 NEW YORK, Cordier & Ekstrom, NOT SEEN AND/OR LESS SEEN OF/BY MARCEL DUCHAMP/RROSE SÉLAVY, 1904-64, January 14-February 13, 1965, no. 60 (another example exhibited) THE HAGUE, Gemeentemuseum, MARCEL DUCHAMP: SCHILDERN, TEKENINGEN, READY-MADES, DOCUMENTEN, February 3-March 15, 1965, no. 37 (another example exhibited) LONDON, The Tate Gallery, THE ALMOST COMPLETE WORKS OF MARCEL DUCHAMP, June 18-July 31, 1966, nos. 122 and 123 (other examples exhibited) JERUSALEM, The Israel Museum, MARCEL DUCHAMP: drawings, etchings for the large glass, readymades, March-May 1972 (another example exhibited) MILAN, Galleria Schwarz, MARCEL DUCHAMP: 66 CREATIVE YEARS, December 12, 1972-February 28, 1973, no. 68 PHILADELPHIA, Philadelphia Museum of Art; NEW YORK, The Museum of Modern Art and CHICAGO, The Art Institute of Chicago, MARCEL DUCHAMP, September 22, 1973-April 21, 1974, no. 115 (another example exhibited) PARIS, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre national d'art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, L'OEUVRE DE MARCEL DUCHAMP, January 31-May 2, 1977, no. 106 (another example exhibited) VANCOUVER, Vancouver Art Gallery, DUCHAMP READYMADES, April 29-June 4, 1978 (another example exhibited) OTTAWA, Alberta College of Art, MARCEL DUCHAMP: READYMADES, ETC., October 16-November 15, 1979, p. 33 (another example exhibited) BARCELONA, Fundació Joan Miró; MADRID, Sala de Exposiciones de la Caja de Pensiones and COLOGNE, Museum Ludwig, DUCHAMP, February 29-August 19, 1984, no. 104 (another example exhibited) MILAN, Accademia di Belle Arti di Bretra, MARCEL DUCHAMP, LA SPOSA ... E I READYMADE, May 20-July 10, 1988, p. 55, no. 55 (another example illustrated) ANTWERP, Galerie Ronny van de Velde, MARCEL DUCHAMP, September 15-December 15, 1991 (present lot exhibited) VENICE, Palazzo Grassi, MARCEL DUCHAMP, April 4-July 18, 1993, p. 62 (another example exhibited) LITERATURE R. Lebel, SUR MARCEL DUCHAMP, PARIS, 1959, pl. 73 (another example illustrated) W. Hopps, U. Linde and A. Schwarz, MARCEL DUCHAMP: READY-MADES, ETC. (1913-1964), MILAN, 1964, no. 7 (another example illustrated) A. Schwarz, THE COMPLETE WORKS OF MARCEL DUCHAMP, NEW YORK, 1969, p. 460, no. 237 (another example illustrated) A. Schwarz, MARCEL DUCHAMP, NEW YORK, 1975, pl. 106 (another example illustrated) T. Zaunschirm, BEREITES MÄDCHEN READY-MADE, KLAGENFURT, 1983, p. 48, fig. 8 (another example illustrated) G. Moure, MARCEL DUCHAMP, LONDON, 1988, no. 80 (another example illustrated) M. Partouche, MARCEL DUCHAMP: UNE VIE D'ARTISTE, MARSEILLE, 1991, p. 54 (another example illustrated) P. Hulten, ed., MARCEL DUCHAMP: WORK AND LIFE, CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, 1993, p. 62 (another example illustrated) D. Joselit, INFINITE REGRESS: MARCEL DUCHAMP, 1910-1941, CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, 1998, p. 68, fig. 1.21 (another example illustrated) D. Ades, N. Cox and D. Hopkins, MARCEL DUCHAMP, LONDON, 1999, p. 156, fig. 117 (another example illustrated) F. M. Naumann, MARCEL DUCHAMP, THE ART OF MAKING ART IN THE AGE OF MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION, NEW YORK, 1999, p. 67, fig. 3.8; p. 225, fig. 8.26 and p. 243, fig. 8.65 (other examples illustrated) Schwarz, THE COMPLETE WORKS OF MARCEL DUCHAMP, NEW YORK, 2000, p. 643, no. 339 (another example illustrated)