''In Advance of the Broken Arm'', also called ''Prelude to a Broken Arm'', is a 1915 sculpture by
Dada artist
Marcel Duchamp
Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...
that consisted of a regular
snow shovel
A snow shovel is a specialized shovel designed for snow removal. Snow shovels come in several different designs, each of which is designed to move snow in a different way. Removing snow with a snow shovel has health and injury risks, but can also ...
with "from Marcel Duchamp 1915" painted on the handle. One explanation for the title is that without the shovel to remove snow, one might fall and break an arm. This type of humor is not atypical of
dadaist work.
An antidote to what Duchamp called "
retinal art
Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...
", ''In Advance of the Broken Arm'' was the second of a series of sculptures that he named "
ready-mades", the most famous of which is his 1917 ''
Fountain''. At the time, the term "ready-made" referred to manufactured goods as opposed to handmade goods, but Duchamp used the term to describe "an ordinary object elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist".
The original was hung from a wire in the studio and has since been lost. A replica of the sculpture is on display at the
Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut.
Marcel Duchamp, ''In Advance of the Broken Arm''
Yale University Art Gallery
References
External links
Museum of Modern Art, New York City, ''In Advance of the Broken Arm''
{{Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp works
1915 sculptures
Lost sculptures
Modernist sculpture
Collections of the Yale University Art Gallery
Shovels