Our monthly art series demystifies the artworks we love—or love to hate. This time we tackle a piece that rocked the art world when it arrived on the scene
Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain (1917) was an art history game changer. It was considered to be the first conceptual artwork, one that pioneered a movement which put greater emphasis on the idea or concept behind a piecer rather than the end product itself. Duchamp’s piece went on to influence a myriad of sensational artworks, including, Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019) and Sherrie Levine’s Fountain (Buddha) (1991), a golden and feminist take on the original.
Fountain consists of a urinal flipped on its back and “R. Mutt” mysteriously painted on its side. Duchamp, a French artist who also created paintings and sculptures, reportedly bought the ready-made piece and submitted it to the Society of Independent Artists in New York, an artist-run organisation which accepted submissions from all its members. Duchamp, who was a board member, submitted the piece under the pseudonym, R. Mutt.
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The organisation rejected the piece, citing that it was too vulgar, offensive to women and above all: not a work of art. It incited outrage, controversy and debate around what was considered art. Indeed, in its defence, a critic at the time wrote that even though the artist didn’t make the piece himself, by proposing that it should be presented in a gallery the artist is saying that this is art, and that in itself was significant. This resulted in a defining moment in art history as it raised questions regarding what art is, who gets to decide if it is art, what art should look like and if an artist needs to have created the piece in order for it to be considered art.
Fountain made the art world rethink the existing definitions of what constitutes art, which paralleled the need to rethink the existing world order brought on by the First World War. The Dada art movement, which included works that often employed satire, encapsulated a ludicrous and non-nonsensical sensibility and included the use of ready-made objects, was born after the outbreak of war, and its absurdity reflected the futility and devastation of war. Duchamp had been championing the use of pre-existing objects in art for some time, but with Fountain he went a step further by adding humour and provocation. And the piece evoked the same sense of deliberate absurdism, which became emblematic of Dadaism.
Every now and then, long-standing traditions and established perspectives need to be challenged and evolve with the times they are in, and that includes those in the art world. Duchamp figuratively pissed on the traditionalists of his community by having the gall to submit a urinal as artwork. He shook up art history and forever changed its course by expanding the scope of art for creations that followed it. The Fountain remains relevant today as a significant reference point for artists, but also because the conditions in which it was conceived aren’t too different from the upheaval contemporary society is experiencing. And that’s why it’s art… because why can’t it be?