Marcel Duchamp’s oeuvre spanned many of the early 20th century’s key movements, including Dada and Futurism. Today, however, Duchamp is best remembered for his controversial work titled Fountain (1917) – a porcelain urinal upon which Duchamp added the false signature, ‘R.Mutt.’ Simultaneously outrageous and puzzling, Fountain is a seminal 20th century moment, removing art’s obligation to be aesthetically pleasing and calling instead for the intellectually provocative. Duchamp’s works were entirely expressive of his Dadaist attitude; alongside his literary, political, and artistic contemporaries, he revolted against the notion of artistic value and ‘fine’ taste, and advocated for art which appealed to the mind rather than the eyes.
