MARCEL DUCHAMP ETCHING ON PAPER, THE COFFEE MILL

MARCEL DUCHAMP (FRENCH, 1887–1968) ETCHING ON WOVE PAPER, 1947 H 7" W 3.25" THE COFFEE MILL, FROM DU CUBISM Signed in the plate lower left, with embossed stamp 'FR' in the lower left corner. A very good, evenly printed impression of the second and final state, after cancellation. Published by Compagnie Française des Arts Graphiques, Paris, with full margins. For inclusion in the Gleizes/Metzinger book Du Cubisme, after the same-titled painting he had made in 1911 for his sculptor brother, Raymond Duchamp-Villon. His brother was married in 1911 and had asked his artist friends to make him small paintings with which to decorate his kitchen. Sheet size H 12" W 7.125" Provenance: Marygrove College, Detroit MIAccording to Duchamp's later recollection, "I made this old-fashioned coffee mill for him. It shows the different facets of the coffee grinding operation and the handle on top is seen simultaneously in several positions as it revolves. You can see the ground coffee in a heap under the cogwheels of the central shaft, which turns in the directions of the arrow on top," (d'Harnoncourt/McShine, Marcel Duchamp, 1973, page 256)
Dimensions: in
Condition Report: with tape staining in the upper right and left corner (unobtrusive to the image), faint areas of tape residue from the top mat board, otherwise no visible abrasions to the print itself. Pencil notation along the lower sheet edge '041'.