Dali / Duchamp

Dalí/Duchamp takes a detailed look at the little-explored relationship between two of the 20th century’s most famous artists. The two might seem like polar opposites at first glance?Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968), the father of conceptual art who rejected painting in 1918, appears to have little in common with the showmanlike Salvador Dalí (1904–89), the exceptional Surrealist painter of fantastical landscapes. But the two men were united by a unique combination of humor and skepticism that led both to challenge conventional views of art and life in their own respective ways.

Beyond their shared thematic concerns, the artists knew and respected each other. After meeting in the 1930s through mutual contacts within the Surrealist group, Duchamp and Dalí maintained a firm friendship over the following decades, spending time together in Paris, New York and Catalonia, where Duchamp purchased a summer house in Cadaqués, close to Dalí’s home in Port Lligat.