3 min readUpdated: Apr 10, 2026 08:25 PM IST
It was more than 100 years ago that by turning a urinal upside down, artist Marcel Duchamp did the same to the art world — quite literally. In April 1917, the French-American artist famously submitted an inverted urinal brought from a store, signed and dated “R. Mutt, 1917,” to the Society of Independent Artists’ salon in New York, which claimed to be “unjuried”. Associated with the Dada movement (that questioned traditionlal values in art in post World War 1 Europe), Duchamp reportedly wanted to test that claim. Consequently, the artwork titled Fountain might have failed to find a place in their exhibition, but it did manage to cause a stir.
What followed was a decades-long debate on the meaning and boundaries of what constitutes art and what can be claimed by an artist as their own work. While that discussion continues to evolve till date, and Fountain is often cited as a cornerstone of conceptual art in some ways, a new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York is now celebrating the artist and his work. Marking the first retrospective of Duchamp in the US since 1973, the showcase presents glimpses into his career through over 300 works in varied mediums, spanning 1900 to 1968.
A note on the exhibition on MoMA’s website reads: “Over a six-decade career, Duchamp challenged the very definition of the artwork, ushering in a new era of creative license — the reverberations of which are still felt today. While resistant to ‘-isms,’ Duchamp had a hand in modern art movements ranging from Cubism to Surrealism to pop. His pursuits were marked by continuous reinvention and deliberate inconsistency: ‘I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste.’”
With this as its starting point, the exhibition explores Duchamp’s radical rethinking of art and authorship and his influential career. The works on display range from his early watercolours to his groundbreaking “readymades,” including a version of Bicycle Wheel that was first made in 1913 and a replica of In Advance of the Broken Arm, which features a snow shovel. Among the highlights is also Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912) — depicting a nude figure in movement — that is now one of his most recognised works, though it was once arguably rejected by the cubists for being too “futurist.”
Also featured is Fountain — voted in 2004 in a survey of 500 British art world professionals as the most influential artwork of the 20th century.
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Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice.
With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India.
Vandana Kalra’s career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale.
She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters.
Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory.
The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions.
Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović).
Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers.
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India:
1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival
“At Serendipity Arts Festival, a ‘Shark Tank’ of sorts for art and crafts startups” (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors.
“Artist Birender Yadav’s work gives voice to the migrant self” (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers.
“At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air” (Dec 16, 2025).
“Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art” (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention.
2. M.F. Husain & Modernism
“Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar” (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum.
“Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist’s global legacy” (Nov 29, 2025).
3. Art Market & Records
“Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist” (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo’s canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million.
“All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork” (Nov 19, 2025).
“What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?” (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork.
4. Art Education & History
“Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India” (Nov 23, 2025).
“A glimpse of Goa’s layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival” (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art.
Signature Beats
Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about “Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?” (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of “Platinum Benefactors.” She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists’ Village (Nov 22, 2025). … Read More
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