About this artwork
Spurred into action by Germany’s invasion of France during World War II, Marcel Duchamp created scaled-down versions of his artworks that could fit into small, portable suitcases. To gather the necessary materials, Duchamp posed as a cheese salesman and smuggled supplies across Nazi check-points in Paris and back to his studio.
The concept of the La Boîte-en-valise (box in a suitcase) draws on the history and compact form of traveling museums and cabinets of curiosities. Interested in the concept of reproduction, Duchamp created twenty deluxe copies of the Box that were housed in a leather suitcase, and more than three hundred iterations without the leather box that were gradually released over time to art collectors and patrons around the world. The Art Institute’s version is the first he completed and dedicated to Mary Reynolds, although he considered the entire project as one cohesive artwork.
-
Status
- Currently Off View
-
Department
- Ryerson and Burnham Libraries Special Collections
-
Artist
- Marcel Duchamp
-
Title
- De ou par Marcel Duchamp ou Rrose Sélavy, Boîte-en-Valise (From or by Marcel Duchamp or Rrose Sélavy, Box in a Valise)
-
Place
- Paris (Object made in:)
-
Date
- 1941
-
Medium
- Brown leather valise with handle containing sixty-nine miniature replicas, printed reproductions and one original, Sonate,1938, hand-colored collotype
-
Inscriptions
- pour Mary Reynolds ce no. 0 de vingt boîtes-en-valise contenant chacune 69 items et un original et par Marcel Duchamp
-
Dimensions
- case (closed): 3 11/16 × 15 3/16 × 16 1/4" (9.4 × 38.5 × 41.2 cm); overall (opened): 15 3/4 × 15 3/16 × 36 1/8" (40 × 38.5 × 91.7 cm)
-
Credit Line
- Mary Reynolds Collection, Ryerson & Burnham Libraries
-
Reference Number
- 2019.158
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
