1887 - 1968
Marcel Duchamp is arguably the most famous conceptual artist. Born in France, moved to the USA and became an American citizen in 1955. Marcel Duchamp had a large influence on post war art including the Dada art movement and Surrealist art movement, which his name is normally associated with. Many of Marcel Duchamp's art works that were classified as Dadaist or Surrealist nowadays would be categorised as Conceptual art.
Marcel Duchamp's early works were very much influenced by the Post impressionist styles of Vincent Van Gough and Paul Cezanne. Duchamp’s style then progressed and developed into Fauvism and then Cubism.
Once finding his feet in the Cubism modern art movement he became friends with Francis Picabia a poet who was connected to Man Ray. At the time Man Ray was developing the Dada manifesto. Marcel Duchamp joined the early discussions involving the ideas and concepts of Dadism.
Marcel Duchamp aligned himself with the Dada modern art movement where he created his most famous art works such as 'fountain' and his Bicycle wheel that was lost and never recovered.
To find out about the other major pioneering artists that contributed to the Conceptual art movement please click on their names below:
