Suzanne Duchamp Does More Intelligent Things Than Paint

Abstract

Suzanne Duchamp pushed the boundaries of painting by incorporating unorthodox, machine-made materials into interconnected pictorial geometries. This doctoral thesis focuses on her distinct way of combining modern elements with traditional media, situating her within dialogues on the readymade taking place between New York, Zurich, and Paris during the 1910s and 1920s. These exchanges involved a transatlantic group of artists, including her husband Jean Crotti, her older brother Marcel Duchamp, Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, Francis Picabia, Man Ray, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and Beatrice Wood. While Duchamp has been summarily treated in the literature on Dada, there has been little concentrated attention devoted to her specific involvement with this avant-garde, or to her sustained artist practice. Suzanne Duchamp’s engagement ranged from correspondences with Marcel Duchamp while he was based in New York to in-person collaborations when many of these artists returned to Paris after World War I, especially Crotti, whom she married in 1919, and Picabia. This thesis is structured around four chapters focused on objects and materials that explore painting and the readymade, language and collage, dance and diagrams, and poetry and printed journals. By studying Suzanne Duchamp’s art as a body of work in its own right and in relationship to her peers, this thesis presents a richer understanding of her individual approach and sheds greater light on ideas she shared with other artists. By turning the spotlight to Suzanne Duchamp, and to her particular place within the history of Dada, renewed consideration can be given to broader conversations on readymades, language, and the shifting status of painting which were at the heart of the movement