Duchamp’s first retrospective exhibition in the United States will debut in 2026 in half a century

The United States will receive its first Marcel Duchamp review in more than half a century next year, which has become one of the most famous museum exhibitions of 2026.

The exhibition’s list numbering nearly 300 items is organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Philadelphia Museum of Art and will be curated by Ann Temkin and Michelle Kuo at Moma and Matthew Affron at the Philadelphia Museum. It will debut in New York on April 16, 2026, before opening in Philadelphia in the fall.

Afterwards, the large retrogrades will head to Paris for a speech produced by the Centre Pompidou and the Grand Palazzo 2027.

One goal of the show is to suggest that, while we talk about Duchamp often, there is more to know about him. “Duchamp remains mysterious,” Ku wrote in an email. “The whole of his work is still unknown. The most common thing is talking about is the tip of the iceberg, and his diverse work has a lot to be investigated. Duchamp changed the definition of the artist. He transformed the definition of art from the meaning that emits into the definition of something to the meaning of it depends on its meaning.”

This is the first time any American institution has worked to investigate all aspects of Duchamp’s practice since 1973, and it is another retrospective of the artist by both the MOMA and the Philadelphia Museum. Although Duchamp is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures of working artists today, retrospectives are very rare for him. When MMK Frankfurt held its own Duchamp retrospective in 2022, it was called the first show of its kind in two decades.

However, this exhibition is particularly unusual as it will appear in the United States and France, with Duchamp being a citizen of two countries. “It’s important to him, and this is going back and forth,” said Afron, a curator of the Philadelphia Museum. “It’s part of who he is and the way he chooses to let his career down. So any complete recap of Duchamp must tell the story of his transatlantic life.”

Duchamp came from France, and in the early 20th century he began painting works that seemed to represent numbers cascading by mechanical parts, such as the Cubist industry. His famous paintings Go down the stairs naked, No. 2 (1913) In the French scandal audience, but made the biggest mark in the United States, it helped launch American modernism at the Armory Show in 1913 in New York. The painting is currently owned by the Philadelphia Museum, but will be headed to MOMA in 2026, the first time the work has visited a New York institution since 1973.

The artist then went on to be one of the key figures in the Dada art movement, conceptualizing what he called ready-made, or everyday objects he lured into galleries, with little change in himself and considered a work of art in itself. These works are cherished by the annoying sense of humor he injects into all the art, which uses a lot of word games and visual puns.

Affron said the 2026 retrospective “Heart Beat” will be part of Duchamp’s “Boîte-en-en-valises,” which specializes in Duchamp’s portable works contain his ready-made mini versions. “It’s really a new way to copy your own work,” Affron explained. The exhibition will display the boxes along with archival materials left in Duchamp’s studio, providing a rare vision for the artist’s process of making these works.

The lengthy list of the upcoming retrospectives includes almost Duchamp’s most famous works: fountainhis 1917 ready-made diapers tilted on the side. lhooqhis 1919 work involves a postcard Mona Lisa The mustache and goatee were pulled onto her face; Anemia movieThis is a 1926 film that counts as a landmark in an experimental film. But Duchamp’s two key works –Large glass (1915–23) and his last work, Étant Donnés (1946–66) – Will not leave the Philadelphia Museum that owns them, and therefore will not be seen in New York or Paris.

In 1973, New York Times James R. Afrolong said the cult doesn’t seem to disappear because every decade it’s fascinated by new parts of Duchamp’s work.

“In the 1950s, I thought it was an aspect of Duchamp, it was involved in rally art and collage and all sorts of things,” Affron said. “In the 1960s, some aspects of conceptual Duchamp stood out. In the 1980s, Duchamp’s dramas had a concept of gender, and the way gender intersected with creative character became very important.”

What will be the interest in the Duchampion cult in 2026? Affron didn’t want to speculate and just said, “Every generation got the Duchamp he wanted.”

“Today, Duchamp’s revolution is everywhere,” MOMA curator Temkin wrote in an email. “Whenever someone asks ‘Why do this art?’ – They ask this in Duchamp’s wake. Duchamp’s work involves the importance of opportunity, skills and consulting questions, the art market, the role of humans and machines, and the definition of originality and authorship. Duchamp.