Exhibitions

Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture

March 27, 2009 – August 2, 2009

Private collection, courtesy of Francis M. Naumann Fine Art

National Portrait Gallery
8th and G Streets, NW
Washington, DC

2nd Floor, North

See on Map Floor Plan

This exhibition examines the artistry of Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) who harnessed the power of portraiture and self-portraiture to secure his reputation as an iconoclast and establish himself as a major figure in the art world. In the process, he played a key role in the reinvention of portraiture and influenced other artists. The exhibition showcases approximately 100 never-before-assembled portraits and self-portraits of Duchamp, ranging from 1912 to the present, including works by his contemporaries Man Ray, Alfred Stieglitz, Francis Picabia, and Florine Stettheimer as well as portraits by a more recent generation of artists, such as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Stutevant, and Yasumasa Morimura.