Fountain

Browse the collection

Artist Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887–1968)

Title Fountain (Fontaine)

Date 1964 edition (after 1917 original)

Medium Painted and glazed ceramic

Dimensions Overall: 14 x 19 5/16 x 24 5/8 in. (35.6 x 49.1 x 62.5 cm)

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

Accession Number 71.37.7

Share this artwork!

About this Work

A urinal laid on its back, Fountain is the most controversial of Duchamp’s readymades. Seeking to redefine traditional artistic standards and assumptions, Duchamp submitted a factory-made urinal under the pseudonym “R. Mutt,” to the Society of Independent Artists, a New York organization he helped found in 1917. When it was rejected, Duchamp wrote an impassioned defense of the artist’s right to choose, rather than make, objects and to give them aesthetic meanings through placement and context.

Provenance
More Details

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.

Viewing Information
This artwork is currently on view.

Request this Image
The Eskenazi Museum of Art provides images of its collection, free of charge, upon request. This artwork is under copyright protection. You can request the image and it will be emailed to you when the request is complete.

Cite this Page
"Fountain | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=71.37.7