Prints + Multiples 
15 February 2023
Prints + Multiples 
101

Marcel Duchamp 1887–1968

Rotoreliefs (Optical Discs)

1935 / 1953
offset lithograph on six double-sided cardboard discs 7⅞ dia in (20 cm)
estimate: $6,000–8,000
result: $10,710
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Incised signature to vinyl case 'Marcel Duchamp'. This complete set of six double-sided discs is from Schwarz's Edition A of 1000. Sold with the original collapsible cardboard stand and black vinyl circular case.
provenance: Collection of Marjorie Eaton | Gifted c. 1980 from the previous to the present owner
literature: Schwarz 441

This work will ship from Rago in Lambertville, New Jersey.

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Duchamp's Rotoreliefs

Created in 1935 for display at the Concours Lépine, a French inventor’s fair, Marcel Duchamp’s Rotoreliefs merged the artist’s ongoing fascination with optical illusion and mechanical art. The set of six double-sided discs was meant to be spun on a turntable at 40-60 rpm to create a hypnotizing illusion of depth. Duchamp and Man Ray used the discs in their short film, Anémic Cinéma and the works appeared again in other experimental films including Jean Cocteau’s Blood of a Poet and Hans Richter’s Dreams that Money Can Buy. Initially, the set was produced in an edition of 500 however, 300 of those were lost during WWII. A later edition of 1000 was published in 1953 by Enrico Donati, a painter and one-time collaborator of Duchamp, but again only 400 survived after more than half of the edition was accidentally destroyed. 


Example of a Duchamp Rotorelief in motion.
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