The Artist Duchamp
The Story of the Bride
Introduction
Marcel Duchamp made himself a household name through out Europe and America with his atypical philosophies on art, especially with his ground breaking cubist piece, Nude Descending a Staircase . In was a strong influence the New York Dada and even had some participation in the Surrealism movement. A strong story line can be seen through out his work, the story of the progression of virgin to bride. He depicts this through numerous works he created during his life.
The Virgin
The first work in this particular series is, Virgin . It is a monochrome painting done in the cubist style. It is with this work that, “Duchamp introduced the notion of the human body as a mechanical sex object” . In the work, a mechanical figure appears to be walking, wearing a large white dress present in a simplistic fashion compared to other of Duchamps’ works.
Passage from Virgin to Bride
The second part in this series is that of The Passage of Virgin to Bride where Duchamp “visualizes the ‘moment of change’ from one state to another” . The image is now produced more complicate with more gradation and objects. The coloring has turned more to a rust and the image appears to be reclining and more elaborate then the Virgin.
He is depicting a mechanical sexuality which is what the virgin must take part of to become the bride and attribute to the loss of her innocence. The woman is now allowed to engulf herself in her desire.
The Bride
It is in Bride “he shows a fully realized, precisely mechanized being, thus completely the cycle” . Duchamp has now finally produced a working machine. No more parts, but a full unite fulfilling its job, like when I woman marries she is fulfilling her job as a female in the view of today’s society. The colors are now golden and crisper and the bride has now become a lot easier to decipher.
She appears to be stripped of her bridal gown and...
Please login to view the full essay...