Marcel Duchamp

French, 1887-1968

Why Not Sneeze Rose Sélavy?

© Succession Marcel Duchamp / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

download

© Succession Marcel Duchamp / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Succession Marcel Duchamp / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Succession Marcel Duchamp / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Succession Marcel Duchamp / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Succession Marcel Duchamp / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Succession Marcel Duchamp / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Why Not Sneeze Rose Sélavy?, 1921 (re-created 1964)

Artwork Details

Currently on View

Materials

marble cubes, thermometer, metal cage, perches, and cuttlebones

Edition:

2/8 plus 3 hors-commerce

Measurements

overall: 4 1/2 x 8 5/8 x 6 5/16 inches (11.43 x 21.9075 x 16.03375 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Credit

George B. and Jenny R. Mathews Fund, 1972

Accession ID

1972:2

Like most of Marcel Duchamp’s art, Why Not Sneeze Rose Sélavy? invites multiple interpretations while resisting attempts to reduce these to one meaning. The Rose Sélavy of the title is Duchamp’s female alter ego, whose name is a pun on the French phrase “Éros c’est la vie,” or “Eros is life.” Male-female duality, an important aspect of Duchamp’s thought, may provide insight into one of the work’s possible meanings. The cage could act as a female symbol and a stand-in for Rose Sélavy and the thermometer as the male counterpart, standing in for Duchamp. The combination of elements could also be a reference to body temperature or the heat of passion.

Label from Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One: Humor and Satire from the Collection, November 19, 2016–March 19, 2017

Other Works by This Artist