--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Duchamp thought it was for artists to…" description: "\"“Duchamp thought it was for artists to decide what was and what was not a work of art. His position was that if an artist said something was a work of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5b/will-gompertz-31976_art_duchamp-thought-it-was-for-artists-to-de_1810090.jpg" --- # Duchamp thought it was for artists to decide what was and… ![“Duchamp thought it was for artists to decide what was and what was not a work of art. His position was that if an artist said something was a work of art, having influenced its context and meaning, then it was a work of art.” quote by Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5b/will-gompertz-31976_art_duchamp-thought-it-was-for-artists-to-de_1810090.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5b/will-gompertz-31976_art_duchamp-thought-it-was-for-artists-to-de_1810090.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5b/will-gompertz-31976_art_duchamp-thought-it-was-for-artists-to-de_1810090.jpg) > ““Duchamp thought it was for artists to decide what was and what was not a work of art. His position was that if an artist said something was a work of art, having influenced its context and meaning, then it was a work of art.”” [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The statement asserts that artistic legitimacy comes from the artist’s declaration, which reshapes context and meaning, making the work art. **In simple terms:** Artist’s claim defines what is art. Key Takeaway Recognize the power of artistic intent. Themes art theory authorship definition Mood analytical critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - gallery curation - art education - creative practice Key Concepts institutional critique conceptual art Questions to Reflect On - Who decides what counts as art? - Can consensus override the artist’s claim? A Different Perspective It may ignore broader cultural or critical perspectives on art. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Position](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-position-2106064/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artist Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist-said-1590875/) [Artists Decide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artists-decide-2106063/) [Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duchamp-377109/) [Duchamp Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duchamp-thought-2106062/) ## Related quotes > [At first, I didn't want to do unicorns. The artist in me said no. Then I thought, 'Wait a minute: this is commercial art.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-frank/at-first-i-didn-t-want-to-do-unicorns-the-artist-in-me-said-no-then-i/) [Lisa Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-frank/) > [“Yes, but the artist?" said Nigel almost fiercely. "He's different, you know he is. 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A stab at getting laid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/so-that-s-what-art-is-for-the-artist-said-crake-an-empty-drainpipe-an/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I didn't really know what I was looking at when I first came across Man Ray's 'Dust Breeding,' his photograph of a work by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/i-didn-t-really-know-what-i-was-looking-at-when-i-first-came-across/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [Found objects, chance creations, ready-mades (mass-produced items promoted into art objects, such as Duchamp's "Fountain"-urinal as sculpture) abolish the separation between art and life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/found-objects-chance-creations-ready-mades-mass-produced-items/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [Art you can flush down the loo means nothing to me, even were the loo to be selected by Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-o-hagan/art-you-can-flush-down-the-loo-means-nothing-to-me-even-were-the-loo/) [Andrew O'Hagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-o-hagan/) > [“A painting that doesn't shock isn't worth painting-Marcel Duchamp”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-goldfarb-marquis/a-painting-that-doesn-t-shock-isn-t-worth-painting-marcel-duchamp/) [Alice Goldfarb Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-goldfarb-marquis/) > [“It occurred to me all of a sudden, said Amalfitano, it’s a Duchamp idea, leaving a geometry book hanging exposed to the elements to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/it-occurred-to-me-all-of-a-sudden-said-amalfitano-it-s-a-duchamp-idea/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [In my case, everything starts from Marcel Duchamp and the new expressive possibilities he gave us with his ready-mades. I transferred his artistic language…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgil-abloh/in-my-case-everything-starts-from-marcel-duchamp-and-the-new/) [Virgil Abloh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgil-abloh/) > [“In one sense, (Duchamp's) “The Large Glass” is a glimpse into Hell; a peculiarly modernist Hell of repetition and loneliness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hughes/in-one-sense-duchamp-s-the-large-glass-is-a-glimpse-into-hell-a/) [Robert Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hughes/) > [ “The object \[Duchamp's Fountain\] was rejected , giving Duchamp the opportunity of issuing a statement, which he published in a review, The Blind Man.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neville-weston/the-object-duchamp-s-fountain-was-rejected-giving-duchamp-the/) [Neville Weston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neville-weston/) > [“I know great art when someone doesn’t wash their hands after making it. And not only did Duchamp not wash his hands, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-know-great-art-when-someone-doesn-t-wash-their-hands-after-making/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [ \[Photographer Julian Wasser\] had this great idea that I should play chess naked with Marcel Duchamp and it seem to be such a great… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-babitz/photographer-julian-wasser-had-this-great-idea-that-i-should-play/) [Eve Babitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-babitz/) ## More by Will Gompertz > [“It’s a urinal! It’s not even the original. The art is in the idea, not the object.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/it-s-a-urinal-it-s-not-even-the-original-the-art-is-in-the-idea-not/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [I think art world will have consolidated, I think it will slow down a little bit. I think it will be less white and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/i-think-art-world-will-have-consolidated-i-think-it-will-slow-down-a/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [“That, he thought, was the essential purpose of art—to capture the universal in the everyday, which was particular to their here and now: the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/that-he-thought-was-the-essential-purpose-of-art-to-capture-the/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [I don't think ever before in the whole of human history has so much art been made, bought, and sold. 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Don't say it, do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/be-an-artist-don-t-say-it-do-it/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [I often look for beauty in form and structure, and for ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/i-often-look-for-beauty-in-form-and-structure-and-for-ideas/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [“He considered the medium to be secondary: first and foremost was the idea. Only after an artist had settled on and developed a concept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/he-considered-the-medium-to-be-secondary-first-and-foremost-was-the/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [Group shows are always much harder to present to the public because there's a theme to the show. They always do less well because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/group-shows-are-always-much-harder-to-present-to-the-public-because/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [We're moving from a generation who gave little thought as to the built environment and accepted housing that was neither pleasant to look at,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/we-re-moving-from-a-generation-who-gave-little-thought-as-to-the/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [“An artist’s job was not to give aesthetic pleasure—designers could do that; it was to step back from the world and attempt to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/an-artist-s-job-was-not-to-give-aesthetic-pleasure-designers-could-do/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [“ambitious provincial towns and tourist-oriented countries wanting to “do a Bilbao”—that is, to transform their reputations and raise their profile by commissioning an eye-catching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/ambitious-provincial-towns-and-tourist-oriented-countries-wanting-to/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [“Art is always to an extent about trying to create order out of chaos.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/art-is-always-to-an-extent-about-trying-to-create-order-out-of-chaos/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [“Henri Rousseau was a simple, poorly educated man with an air of innocent naïveté. The Montmartre crowd gave him the nickname “Le Douanier,” meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/henri-rousseau-was-a-simple-poorly-educated-man-with-an-air-of/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [“Modernism’s constant quest to find a single, all-encompassing solution to humanity’s problems was considered to be silly, naive and delusional by the Postmodernists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/modernism-s-constant-quest-to-find-a-single-all-encompassing-solution/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) [Explore all 16 Will Gompertz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. 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