Why Not Sneeze, Rose Sélavy?

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Marble blocks in the shape of sugar cubes partially fill a small white birdcage. A thermometer and a cuttlefish bone are also placed into the cage.

Artist Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887–1968)

Title Why Not Sneeze, Rose Sélavy?

Date 1964 edition (after 1921 original)

Medium Painted metal birdcage, marble cubes, thermometer, and and cuttlebone

Dimensions Overall: 4 15/16 x 8 5/8 x 6 13/16 in. (12.5 x 21.9 x 17.3 cm)

Credit Line Partial gift of Mrs. William H. Conroy, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 71.37.13

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About this Work

The meaning of this birdcage filled with marble cubes resembling lumps of sugar is enigmatic. Duchamp suggested that the marble’s coolness—measured by the thermometer—relates to the question posed by the title: “why not sneeze?” However, the inclusion in the title of Rrose Sélavy, Duchamp’s female alter ego, adds a sexual dimension to the work. Phonetically, Rrose Sélavy sounds like “éros, c’est la vie” (erotic love is life). Yet is the cage a metaphor for the suppression of eroticism?

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Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Why Not Sneeze, Rose Sélavy? | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=71.37.13