2015.1
Monte Carlo Bond
Artist
Marcel Duchamp
(1887 - 1968)
Title
Monte Carlo Bond
Creation Date
1938
Century
20th century
Dimensions
12 1/4 x 8 1/8 in. (31.12 x 20.64 cm)
Object Type
print
Creation Place
North America, United States
Medium and Support
lithograph on paper
Credit Line
Museum Purchase, Greenacres Acquisition Fund
Copyright
This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s
Copyright Terms and Conditions.
Accession Number
2015.1
In 1938, Duchamp was asked by the editors of XXe Siècle for a contribution to their magazine. He readily accepted, for he was anxious to produce a facsimile of his Monte Carlo Bond (1924) for inclusion in his autobiographical Bôite-en-valise. Featuring a photograph taken by Man Ray, Duchamp playfully transformed his hair and face by the application of soapsuds. He assumes the guise of the god Mercury, with his hair appearing as an imitation of the god’s winged helmet. The bond, authorized with signatures by the artist and his female alter-ego Rrose Sélavy, also alludes to alchemy, with the intrinsic pairing of elements male (Duchamp) and female (Rrose Sélavy), associated with the element of Mercury. Duchamp designed the bond as part of a system to beat the roulette tables in Monte Carlo. Duchamp’s unconventional approach to “playing” the market, if a spoof of sorts, was not without philosophical significance for the artist, who would later write to his brother-in-law Jean Crotti: “Throughout history artists have been like gamblers at Monte Carlo, and the blind lottery causes some to stand out and others to be ruined.”
Additional Media
reverse
