From Publishers Weekly
Perhaps the 20th-century art world's most stimulating gadfly, Duchamp (1887-1968) wielded great influence on young American artists, from his cavalier pronouncements and installations to his cryptic sense of humor. He is the subject of an enormous critical industry and produced an alarming amount of primary source material in his own prose and interviews. Sifting through the latter requires a canny guide with a keen eye for separating jests from what Duchamp meant in earnest; journalist and historian Marquis, a visiting scholar in history at the University of California-San Diego (Art Lessons: Learning from the Rise and Fall of Public Arts Funding) does an excellent job. Duchamp spent more time on his "persona," she charges, than his "extremely limited" series of works. In discussing Duchamp's long stint chess playing rather than overt art making, she compares Duchamp to other "disappearing acts" of French artistic life, creators like Gauguin who fled the spotlight to work in their own private corners, then shows how an American audience took this traditional approach as unusual and refreshing. In 12 chapters that include 16 pages of color plates (not seen by PW) and 65 b&w images, Marquis examines the artist's legacy, the way his jokes empowered dealers, artists and art historians, who in turn promoted pop, conceptual and postmodern art that also ridiculed the idea of art. Without taking any guff from Duchamp, and carefully treading between the real contributions and interview verbiage as if she were wearing hip boots, Marquis is a sane and sensible guide to the continually puzzling paradox of Duchamp. The book makes an excellent beginning point for readers who have seen some of the work and want to know more about man and myth.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The grandfather of postmodernism and a consummate trickster, Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) remains one of the most complicated characters in art history. In addition to an intellectually demanding oeuvre, he made public statements about his life and work that were often elusive, even contradictory. Journalist and historian Marquis (Alfred H. Barr, Jr.) sets out to present what she feels is a much-needed objective look at the artist, the man, and the conundrum. Though she doesn't attempt to discredit Duchamp or previous Duchamp scholarship, she doesn't take his Olympian stature at face value either. Even Duchamp enthusiasts who might bristle at statements like "Duchamp's art, like tripe, is an acquired taste" will likely thrill to the previously unpublished interviews, letters, and bits of gossip contained here. This alone makes the sure-to-be-controversial biography a noteworthy addition to Duchamp scholarship. The uninitiated may want to start with Calvin Tompkins's more admiring Duchamp: A Biography, but this work is recommended to anyone who wants to explore further. With color plates of major works and candid snapshots of the artist and his circle. In contrast to Marquis's fresh approach, the monograph Marcel Duchamp presents solid but typical essays on the master by Duchamp scholars. One of curator Szeeman's goals is to elucidate Duchampian ideas and their effect on other artists, specifically Jean Tinguely. The publisher hoped to have this supersede previous volumes by reproducing individual works in a larger scale and by including some more obscure artwork. But consequently every item is given more or less equal visual importance, which may cause confusion about the actual size of the original. Still, this handsome and fairly comprehensive volume would be useful to libraries that don't already own Anne D'Harnoncourt's Marcel Duchamp, the retrospective catalog by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art, New York.Douglas McClemont, New York Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times
history of public arts funding that doesn’t shy away from either the hard facts or most of the hard questions.

Publishers Weekly
Superb, vivid, dynamic biography. . .Captures a world of museum and art-world politics rarely glimpsed by the public.

Washington Times
Ms. Marquis’s book is the one anyone inclined to explore this subject should read first.

Choice
A refreshingly straightforward and informative chronicle of the life of charismatic iconoclast Duchamp: well paced and rich with personal insights.

Book Description
Why another book on Duchamp? Because of all the previous books on Duchamp. Arguably the most influential artist of the 20th century, Duchamp, the son of a successful notary, was also a shrewd manager of his image and interests--so much so that many of those who have written about him have been dazzled by his self-created persona when trying to assess his elusive legacy and equally elusive character. Marcel Duchamp: The Bachelor Stripped Bare is not the first full-length biography of Duchamp, but it is the first to present him in all his human contradictions and to take a refreshingly objective look at his real contribution to modern art. The well-known facts are beautifully explored here: Duchamp's myriad personal relations (with family, lovers, collectors, and artists ranging from Man Ray, Picabia, and Breton to the Stettheimer sisters and the Arensbergs); the creation of major works such as the "readymades" and the "Large Glass"; his passion for chess and presumed abandonment of painting. But beyond this, author Alice Goldfarb Marquis looks past the diffident, humorous mask that Duchamp wore with friend and acquaintance alike, to explore the passions and insecurities that motivated many of his artistic and personal evolutions. She separates the artist from the con artist, to determine just how profound an influence Duchamp has really been. Based on numerous unpublished sources and first-hand interviews, Marcel Duchamp: The Bachelor Stripped Bare stands as a groundbreaking contribution to the ever-burgeoning field of Duchamp studies. Prior praise for Alice Goldfarb Marquis: An excellent job. Marquis has caught the man and the epoch. . . A splendid accomplishment in research and writing. --Thomas Hoving on Alfred H. Barr: Missionary for the Modern Superb, vivid, dynamic biography. . .Captures a world of museum and art-world politics rarely glimpsed by the public. --Publishers Weekly on Alfred H. Barr: Missionary for the Modern A lively, detailed history of public arts funding that doesn't shy away from either the hard facts or most of the hard questions. --The New York Times on On Art Lessons: Learning from the Rise and Fall of Public Arts Funding By Alice Goldfarb Marquis. Clothbound, 6 x 9 in., 400 pages, 24 color and 65 b&w

About the Author
One of the most controversial and influential artists of the 20th century, Marcel Duchamp, a.k.a. Rrose Sélavy and R. Mutt, was born in 1887 in Blainville, France. The brother of artists Raymond Duchamp-Villon and Jacques Villon, Duchamp himself began to paint in 1908. After producing several canvases in the current mode of Fauvism, he turned toward experimentation and the avant garde, producing one of his most famous works, the cubist "Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2" (1912), which caused a furor in New York at the 1913 Armory Show. He painted very little after 1915, with the notable exception of his most challenging work, "Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even" (1915-1923). Perhaps his most important legacy was the ready-made, a radical rethinking of the artwork initiated by Duchamp with his "Fountain" (1917), which consisted of a mass-produced ceramic urinal, turned upside down, signed "R. Mutt," and exhibited in a gallery setting. After his brief creative period, Duchamp virtually retired from the art world and spent the remainder of his life playing chess. He died in Paris in 1968.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Marcel Duchamp: The Bachelor Stripped Bare is not the first full-length biography of Duchamp, but it is the first to present him in all his human contradictions and to take a refreshingly objective look at his real contribution to twentieth-century art. The well-known facts are explored here: Duchamp's myriad personal relations (with family, lovers, collectors, and artists ranging from Man Ray, Picabia, and Breton to the Stettheimer sisters and the Arensbergs); the creation of major works such as the "readymades" and the Large Glass; his passion for chess and presumed abandonment of painting. But beyond this, Alice Goldfarb Marquis looks past the diffident, humorous mask that Duchamp wore with friend and acquaintance alike, to explore the passions and insecurities that motivated many of his artistic and personal evolutions. And she separates the artist from the con artist, to determine just how profound an influence Duchamp has been.

SYNOPSIS

Journalist and historian Marquis tells the story of French-born American painter and all-around celebrity Duchamp (1887-1968). A substantially different version of the biography was published as Marcel Duchamp: Eros, c'est la vie by Whitson in 1980. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

The New York Times

A lively, detailed history of public arts funding that doesn't shy away from either the hard facts or most of the hard questions.

Choice

A refreshingly straightforward and informative chronicle of the life of charismatic iconoclast Duchamp ... well paced, clearly put, and rich with personal insights.

Washington Times

The one indispensable Duchamp companion [and] the most sober appraisal yet of this artist ... Ms. Marquis's book is the one anyone inclined to explore this subject should read first.

Publishers Weekly

Perhaps the 20th-century art world's most stimulating gadfly, Duchamp (1887-1968) wielded great influence on young American artists, from his cavalier pronouncements and installations to his cryptic sense of humor. He is the subject of an enormous critical industry and produced an alarming amount of primary source material in his own prose and interviews. Sifting through the latter requires a canny guide with a keen eye for separating jests from what Duchamp meant in earnest; journalist and historian Marquis, a visiting scholar in history at the University of California-San Diego (Art Lessons: Learning from the Rise and Fall of Public Arts Funding) does an excellent job. Duchamp spent more time on his "persona," she charges, than his "extremely limited" series of works. In discussing Duchamp's long stint chess playing rather than overt art making, she compares Duchamp to other "disappearing acts" of French artistic life, creators like Gauguin who fled the spotlight to work in their own private corners, then shows how an American audience took this traditional approach as unusual and refreshing. In 12 chapters that include 16 pages of color plates (not seen by PW) and 65 b&w images, Marquis examines the artist's legacy, the way his jokes empowered dealers, artists and art historians, who in turn promoted pop, conceptual and postmodern art that also ridiculed the idea of art. Without taking any guff from Duchamp, and carefully treading between the real contributions and interview verbiage as if she were wearing hip boots, Marquis is a sane and sensible guide to the continually puzzling paradox of Duchamp. The book makes an excellent beginning point for readers who have seen some of the work and want to know more about man and myth. (Sept.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal