Marcel Duchamp's Boîte-en-valise: The Museum of MetamorphosisMain MenuIntroductionThe Museum of MetamorphosisCatalogue essayThe Seven Series of BoîtesBoîtes in Museum Collections around the World…and OnlineFurther Reading[bibliography page]Lauren Rooney597ff088ef1db884d9e8445c7e06bd004b6c1250
Series B
12023-05-15T00:41:52-07:00Lauren Rooney597ff088ef1db884d9e8445c7e06bd004b6c1250427005plain2023-05-15T04:56:26-07:00Lauren Rooney597ff088ef1db884d9e8445c7e06bd004b6c1250Duchamp issued the Boîtes of Series B, the second series and first standard series, in Paris in 1941 and then in New York between 1942 and 1952. Ecke Bonk, in his meticulous 1989 study of the Boîte project, lists the number of series B Boîtes as 60-75; the uncertainty in the total number of Boîtes (296-311) derives from this uncertainty. Since it proved impractical to expect everyone who purchased a standard Boîte to have a suitcase custom-made for it, and since the fragile original box structure could not securely store the "portable museum" on its own, Duchamp issued many of his series B Boîtes within suitcases. Meanwhile, he commissioned the writer, publisher, and book designer Iliazd (Ilia Zdanevitch) to design a new, sturdier container for the subsequent series of standard Boîtes.
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1media/Screen Shot 2023-05-14 at 7.57.41 AM_thumb.png2023-05-14T06:47:37-07:00Lauren Rooney597ff088ef1db884d9e8445c7e06bd004b6c1250Boîte (Series B) at the Centre Pompidou2Tombstone, translated from French: Marcel Duchamp (1887, France - 1968, France), 1936-1941, La Boîte-en-valise; Object; Brown leather attaché case containing a system of elements folding out into space, including reproductions and miniature objects which together (68 or 69 items) constitute a scaled-down museum representing the nearly complete œuvre of Marcel Duchamp between 1910 and 1937. Black and white and color reproductions on paper, sometimes varnished, cut or stamped, on acetate, photographs and miniatures in glass, oilcloth and porcelain; Supports: plywood, leather, cardboard, copper; Works: black and white or color reproductions on paper (varnished, cut, and stamped) and on acetate, photographs, miniatures in glass, oilcloth and porcelain; 40,5 x 37 x 9,5 cm; Series B, assembled in New York during the war by Joseph Cornell, Xenia Cage and Patricia Matta Cane. Contains 68 items? Acquisition, 2003, Centre Pompidou, Parismedia/Screen Shot 2023-05-14 at 7.57.41 AM.pngplain2023-05-14T09:31:03-07:00Centre Pompidou48.86013732019109, 2.3523576526375556Lauren Rooney597ff088ef1db884d9e8445c7e06bd004b6c1250