Philadelphia Museum of Art
Marcel Duchamp
Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 1)
1911
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Marcel Duchamp
Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 1)
1911
Oil on cardboard on panel
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950
1950-134-58
Artist/maker
Marcel Duchamp
DETAILS
Addressing what he later called “the problem of motion in painting,” Marcel Duchamp here repeats elements of the nude’s body in her final steps down a precipitous spiral staircase. This evocation of elapsed time in a static composition resonates with the Futurist works of Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini, and others. However, by 1911 Duchamp was closely involved with the circle of artists gathering regularly in the Paris suburb of Puteaux. Other artists who belonged to the Puteaux Group included Fernand Léger, Robert Delaunay, and Josef Csaky.

Dimensions

37 3/4 × 23 3/4 inches (95.9 × 60.3 cm) Framed: 41 1/2 × 27 1/8 × 3 inches (105.4 × 68.9 × 7.6 cm)

Format

Paintings

Location

Made in France
CREDITS & RIGHTS
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris / Association Marcel Duchamp

ADMINISTRATIVE
INFORMATION

Source System ID

51448