An abstract painting need in 50 years by no means look "abstract" any longer.
Marcel DuchampRead
It's not what you see that is art. Art is the gap.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art goes beyond mere observation; it is found in the interpretation and the feelings evoked.
In this quote, Marcel Duchamp emphasizes that true art isn't merely about the visual elements that are presented, but rather about the space in between those elements—the interpretations and emotions they inspire in the viewer. The 'gap' represents the disconnect between expectation and perception, where the essence of art resides.
Themes
ArtInterpretationEmotionVisualPerception
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about modern art, one could use this quote to highlight the subjective nature of artistic expression.
More from Marcel Duchamp
All quotes →All this twaddle, the existence of God, atheism, determinism, liberation, societies, death, etc., are pieces of a chess game called language, and they are amusing only if one does not preoccupy oneself with 'winning or losing this game of chess.
Marcel DuchampRead
I am still a victim of chess. It has all the beauty of art - and much more. It cannot be commercialized. Chess is much purer than art in its social position.
Marcel DuchampRead
I never finished the 'Large Glass' because, after working on it for eight years, I probably got interested in something else; also, I was tired. It may be that, subconsciously, I never intended to finish it because the word 'finish' implies an acceptance of traditional methods and all the paraphernalia that accompany them.
Marcel DuchampRead
It's a product of two poles - there's the pole of the one who makes the work, and the pole of the one who looks at it. I give the latter as much importance as the one who makes it.
Marcel DuchampRead
I became a librarian at the Sainte-Genevieve Library in Paris. I made this gesture to rid myself of a certain milieu, a certain attitude, to have a clean conscience, but also to make a living. I was twenty-five. I had been told that one must make a living, and I believed it.
Marcel DuchampRead
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