A Gordon's survey of artists, critics, dealers and critics for the most influential work of modern art finds that Marcel Duchamp's readymade Mutt urinal tops the list (where were Manet's Olympia or Dejeuner sur l'herbe in the list?). "Different categories of respondents chose markedly different works, with artists in particular plumping overwhelmingly for Fountain [...] Extraordinarily, however, not a single artist put Matisse among their top choices."
- Duchamp, Fountain (1917)
- Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907)
- Warhol, Marilyn Diptych (1962)
- Picasso, Guernica (1937)
- Matisse, The Red Studio (1911)
- Beuys, I Like America and America Likes Me (1974)
- Brancusi, Endless Column (1937)
- Pollock, One: No 31 (1950)
- Judd, 100 untitled works in mill aluminium (1982-86)
- Moore, Reclining Figure (1929)
The Guardian has its own competition: "Send us your Duchamp" (hooray for Tarby!). Other coverage of the survey.
But were the readymades (the urinal, the snow shovel, the hat rack etc) really readymade? Rhonda Roland Shearer suggests not in Marcel Duchamp's Impossible Bed and Other "Not" Readymade Objects. See also Did Duchamp Deceive Us?, Taking the 'ready' out of readymade artwork ("a larger question remains: whether or not such a discovery matters. Can a piece of information have the power to subvert a genre of art? The answer, quite simply, is no"), and An Artist's Timely Riddles.
Elsewhere: good review of Affectionately, Marcel (the Nauman/Obalk edited book of correspondance), National Museums Association's photoarchive of Duchamp, Ian Hays on Duchamp and Joyce, Duchampian varia. And 100 most important C20th art works.
Dear sir/madam,
I was hoping to find a list of the 100 most influential modern artists to base an artwork on.....would it be possible to email me the complete list you compiled rather than just the top ten. Hoping you can help me, many thanks
Karl de Waal
Posted by: karl de waal | August 09, 2005 at 05:31 AM
Karl, we don't have the full list. Don't think we ever found it online either, sorry - but let us know if you find it out there.
Posted by: rodcorp | August 09, 2005 at 11:28 AM