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Marcel Duchamp's Boîte-en-valise: The Museum of Metamorphosis

The Seven Series of Boîtes and the 24 Boîtes-en-valise

Duchamp issued his Boîtes, numbering between 296 and 311 in total, in seven editions, conventionally identified with the letters A-G: one deluxe edition (series A, issued 1941-1949) and six standard editions. For each standard series, he selected a different color scheme, making them fairly simple to distinguish from one another. Scroll through the gallery of sample Boîtes to read about the particular features of each series and the modifications that Duchamp made to the Boîte between editions.

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De ou par Marcel Duchamp ou Rrose Sélavy [Boîte, Series E]
Boîte (Series D, 1961) at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA
Boîte (Series F, 1966) at the Philadelphia Museum of Art - Gift of Anne d'Harnoncourt, 1994 Tombstone: Marcel Duchamp (American (born France), 1887-1968), From or by Marcel Duchamp or Rrose Sélavy (Box in a Valise), [de ou par Marcel Duchamp ou Rrose Sélavy (Boîte-en-valise)], 1935-1941, 1963-1965 (contents); Series F, 1966 edition, Red leather valise containing miniature replicas and color reproductions of works by Duchamp made of various media on various supports: collotype, relief halftone, screenprint, offset lithograph, photograph with surface coating, printed color and hand coloring on paper, cardboard, clear acetate, vinyl, glass, and ceramic, Valise (closed): 16 x 15 x 4 inches (40.6 x 38.1 x 10.2 cm), Assembled in Paris, Case made in Milan, Gift of Anne d'Harnoncourt, 1994, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Boîte-en-valise II/XX, at the National Galleries, Scotland
De ou par Marcel Duchamp ou Rrose Sélavy [Boîte (Series G)]
Boîte (Series C, 1961) at the Centre Pompidou Tombstone, translated from French: Marcel Duchamp (1887, France - 1968, France), La Boîte-en-valise, 1936-1941, Object; Cardboard box folding into three parts, covered with beige cloth, containing miniature replicas of works, 69 items (photographs and documents, facsimiles); Cardboard, wood, paper, plastic; 40 x 37,5 x 8,2 cm; Série C, assembled by Iliazd in 1958; Purchase, 1964; Centre Pompidou, Paris
Boîte (Series B) at the Centre Pompidou Tombstone, 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, Paris