Hauser & Wirth Publishers to release 'Marcel Duchamp' monograph and catalogue raisonné more than 60 years since original edition

‘Marcel Duchamp’
Global release date: 8 November 2021 

Volume I: Facsimile of the 1959 English edition of ‘Marcel Duchamp’ by Robert Lebel, with texts by Marcel Duchamp, André Breton and H.P. Roché, design and layout by Marcel Duchamp and Arnold Fawcus, hardcover 

Volume II: Supplement, edited by Jean-Jacques Lebel & Association Marcel Duchamp, with texts by Jean-Jacques Lebel, Robert Lebel, Man Ray and Michael Taylor; foreword by Harald Falckenberg and an introduction by Michaela Unterdörfer, design and production by fluid, softcover 

£100 / $125 / €110 / CHF 120 

'Marcel Duchamp' became the go-to book on the legendary artist for many decades following its publication in late 1959, when editions in French and English were simultaneously released. After being out of print for more than sixty years, the Grove Press English edition is now back in circulation with Hauser & Wirth Publishers’ fully authorized facsimile of Duchamp’s seminal first monograph and catalogue raisonné. 

This iconic title is the culmination of many years of Duchamp’s collaboration with its author, art historian and critic Robert Lebel. To this day, the book’s texts, which include chapters authored by Duchamp, H.P. Roché, and André Breton, remain just as relevant and impactful, as does Duchamp’s book design. Hauser & Wirth Publishers reanimate 'Marcel Duchamp' with its faithful reproduction of the 1959 Grove Press edition alongside Jean-Jacques Lebel, Robert Lebel’s son, and Association Marcel Duchamp, representing the artist’s estate.

The facsimile of the historic edition is presented in a slipcase with a supplement edited by Jean-Jacques Lebel and Association Marcel Duchamp. The supplement features texts and archival material that stitch together the story of Duchamp and Lebel’s close collaboration and, as contributor Michael Taylor writes, how the original publication signified a ‘sea change in the artist’s receptivity to critical interpretation.’ 

About the project 

Over the past decade, Jean-Jacques Lebel and Association Marcel Duchamp, pursued a passion to reprint 'Marcel Duchamp'. The prominent title introduced the revolutionary artist to English speaking audiences in the late 1950s and remains a vital point of reference for understanding Duchamp’s oeuvre, his wholly unique ideas and inner circle of artistic peers. Since 2018, Hauser & Wirth Publishers has been working alongside Lebel and Association Marcel Duchamp to realise the 2021 reedition, a testament to the trust bestowed on the imprint to see the project through to fruition. Re-creating a title that was fabricated more than 60 years ago required specialists; fluid, the curatorial-design studio helped by art historians and book specialists Axel Heil and Margrit Brehm, led this effort. They re-recreated the original typefaces as digital fonts, positioning each letter and image exactly where they were in the original. Paper conservators and printers were consulted, and together, the collaborative team worked to produce a facsimile that matches the edition that Duchamp personally signed off on in 1959, whilst working with contemporary printing tools. 

Since Duchamp’s death in 1968, his legacy and influence has continued to grow and inspire new generations of artists. Hauser & Wirth Publishers specialises in lived art histories, and 'Marcel Duchamp' is considered the authoritative progenitor of this series. The reedition of 'Marcel Duchamp' brings readers closer to the lived experience and creative process of one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Re-examining the artist-led publication more than a half-century after its original release is an indispensable feature of this project. The supplement features a roster of texts that explore the relationship between Duchamp and Robert Lebel, considering the critical reception of the book, and extending the narrative of Duchamp’s community, life, and work that began in the monograph.

(Via Press Release) Hauser & Wirth Announces Independent Non-Profit Institute

Franz Kline, Wanamaker Block, 1955.Y ale University Art Gallery, Gift of Richard Brown Baker, B.A. 1935. © 2018 The Franz Kline Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

New York - Iwan Wirth, President and Manuela Wirth, Co-Founders of Hauser & Wirth, and Marc Payot, Partner and Vice President, today announced the establishment of Hauser & Wirth Institute, an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) private operating foundation dedicated to supporting art historical scholarship and to preserving and advancing the legacies of modern and contemporary artists through enabling greater public access to their archives for research.

To pursue its mission, the Institute will create a study center for the preservation, expedient cataloguing, and digitization of primary research materials for direct study and free online public access to these resources. It will seek to nurture innovation and substance in art historical research through the funding of fellowships in partnership with artists’ estates, foundations, and educational institutions. Another core activity of the Institute will be the production of online catalogues raisonnés and print publications that advance the highest academic standards in order to strengthen the field of modern and contemporary art history. The organization will also present public programs, including exhibitions of archival material and symposia that engage scholars, archivists, artists, collectors, curators, estate managers, gallerists, and the general public in dialogues about the obligations and opportunities inherent in archive stewardship.

The activities of Hauser & Wirth Institute will include both projects connected with artists represented by Hauser & Wirth and artists who are unaffiliated with the gallery.

The Institute is under the leadership of Executive Director Jennifer Gross, formerly Chief Curator and Deputy Director of deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Previous to her work at deCordova, Gross served as Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut; Curator of Contemporary Art at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts; and Founding Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art in Portland, Maine.

Hauser & Wirth Institute is governed by a Board of Directors with guidance provided by an independent Advisory Board of artists, advisors to artists’ estates, scholars, and archivists.

“The work of Hauser & Wirth Institute is a natural extension of our gallery’s support of living artists and the noteworthy estates and foundations we have represented for over 25 years,” Iwan Wirth said. “The art world has accelerated and globalized its exhibition and publishing activities so dramatically. In creating the Institute, we hope to make resources available to support similar growth in the areas of art historical research and the sharing of essential knowledge that fuel a richer understanding of art, artists, and the creative processes central to the history of culture for future generations. We are honored to have the opportunity to create an organization to do this work, and so grateful to our Advisors for joining in the effort.”

Jennifer Gross commented, “We are thrilled to launch this unique and ambitious initiative at a time when there are fewer and fewer resources available to afford scholars the time and access needed for primary document research. It is a great privilege to care for and process archival materials. Even as the art world has become interested in these resources, it is critical to support public conversation about best stewardship and most effective and appropriate practices and partnerships. Technology should be enabling the sharing of intellectual and visual resources, but the speed at which the art world is operating now can preclude adequate attention to this work. We aim to broaden the art historical conversation to reflect the diversity of aesthetic and cultural values at hand today.”

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