The 1912 Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 painting sparked a historical uproar ever known in the world of art. The art faced scads of rejection, mockery and worst of it, a presidential put-down, but eventually, the piece rose to be ranked as a masterpiece. This art possessed some hidden facts; it reimagines the humanity through a monochromatic lens in preserving the cubism, a century after its completion, the art is displayed in cubist art exhibits. Duchamp’s applications of twenty unique static positions displayed a sense visual violence and movement that the cubists affirmed made the art more futurists compared to their avant-garde art.
The art sparked a family rift. Despite Duchamp’s brothers’ reservations, he refused to modify the piece and instead recounted that he had said nothing to his brothers, the painting was a major turning point in his life. By viewing the painting, one can spot its original title on the canvas, ‘NU DESCENDANT UN ESCALIER’ in caps. The painting earned credible reviews at the American premiere. It was named ‘Explosion in a Shingle Factory’ on the New York Times (Judovitz and Marcel 28).
Finally, the Nude Descending Staircase, No. 2 dared the culture of nude studies. The Duchamp’s brothers were not the only people riled by artist’s view on the nude culture. Drawing insights from the Armory Show, Marilyn Kushner believed that viewing a nude woman in Art, scripture or a painting was much classical, and that was the idea of the perfect, artistic beauty. For that reason, to view a nude woman broken and in movement in such a manner was beyond jolting to those 1913 crowds who gathered to gape at the expo.
Work cited
Judovitz, Dalia, and Marcel Duchamp. Unpacking Duchamp: Art in Transit. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press, 1998. Print.
