Marcel Duchamp left behind a large volume of correspondence, more than a thousand documents forming a valuable archive of primary source materials on one the 20th Century's most important cutural figures. In his letters, Duchmap writes about his latest plans, works in progress, concepts such as the "ready-made," his passion for chess, the mundane details of life, as well as extraordinary ideas. The letters are reproduced in their entirety along with chronological and biographical data illumintaing the circumstances behind the letters. An essential volume for art historians and students of 20th Century culture.
New York, 327 East 58 ST (1954-1959)
16 January 1954 Duchamp marries Alexina ["Teeny"] Sattler Matisse (1906-1995). They move into an apartment at 327 East 58th Street (formerly occupied by Max Ernst), while Duchamp retains his studio at zoo West 14th Street. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 228. Marcel Duchamp to Walter Arensberg 23 January 1954, New York
Jan 23. 1954 210 W. 14th St N.Y.C
Dear Walter Thursday 21st received your large envelope with all the documents and I telegraphed Fiske (Fiske=Fiske Kimball) to announce my coming to Phila Friday. It turned out that Fiske was coming to N.Y. on Friday (22nd) and I arranged by telephone to meet him in N.Y., which I did. (After seeing him I received a copy of his letter to you dated Jan. 21St) -------------------- From my conversation with him he seems to have finally grasped the reasons of your dissatisfaction and will change his previous propositions to the following new ones : I. No mentioning at all of a "Modern Museum" (and that you should insist upon) II The Collection opening won't be connected with anything else.thus constituting a III This opening should take place as early as possible. "Modern Museum." I suggested that if there are difficulties to be get ready in a month or 2, they could easily be ready by the end of April or May Even June would be a good moment- But not wait until October. IV The objections based on the readiness of the catalogue fall of themselves if the catalogue need not be ready for the opening-- A good catalogue could hardly be ready by October anyway- So why not work at it with great care and spend all the time necessary to make it a "monument". As for the visitors on the opening day they could have a black and white printed listing of all the works without any reproductions or literature. V The objections based on the lack of time to obtain adequate publicity do not hold water, for this kind of a show is not a "produit de beaute"(cosmetic product) which _ needs heavy advertising. On the contrary a few press releases will start the ball rolling and "Life" has already arranged with Phila to start on the project of along article with color plates to appear at the time (or probably after as they always do) of the opening date.- "Life" needs two months for the color plates alone, although they are not made in Europe-- --The "Art News Annual", if they want to run a long survey of the Collection, comes out in November. --These are the 2 important items of "dignified" publicity and the opening date (May or June) would "cooperate" perfectly with the "Life" article and the "Art News Annual" VI. The framing of the pictures can be simplified as indicated in one of Fiske's letters. I have seen Sweeney's framing at the "Guggenheim" and approve of it completely. It would be simple enough to keep the good frames and use the "strip system" to replace the inadequate frames, without loss of time. VII As to editing the catalogue of the 20'th' Century painting and sculpture Fiske said that he has asked Clifford to submit a number of pages and have you decide.- I know Clifford and like him very much but I don't know about his writing. Soby also would be a good choice for editing- in my opinion. I can't think of anyone in particular whom I like better than those two. (Soby= James Thrall Soby) (Henry Clifford (1904-1974), curator of Paintings at the PMA 1942-1964; writes Arensberg catalog introduction.) After all it is primarily a question of translating into words the inner tenor of the Collection in all its aspects, more than a general dissertation on modern art. I don't like Shapiro's approach to art in general- because he uses art to write about Shapiro. He is a funny kind of a poet. (Meyer Shapiro (1904-1996) Professor of Art History at Columbia University)
This is a resume of my conversation with Fiske yesterday- Hope that he will keep his promise to open before Summer, without any "Modern Museum" strings attached.
VIII Another point concerning myself alone is that I would like to postpone the showing of my large glass- I have to do some repairing on it and I am afraid I might not be ready in time.- Moreover, to avoid any misunderstanding I think that every painting or sculpture shown at the opening should belong strictly to the collection. IX- Another mere piece of news is that I married last Saturday Teeny Matisse, the ex-wife of Pierre: "En vieillissant, I' ermite se fait diable"- Affectueusement Marcel (Alexina Sattler a.k.a. Teeny (1906-1995) ex-wife of Pierre Matisse, marries MD 16 Jan 1964. Literally="Growing old, the hermit would be devil." English saying, "The devil would be monk."
