PRESS RELEASE
PHILLIPS TO HOST AUCTION DEDICATED TO THE IMPACT AND LEGACY OF MARCEL DUCHAMP
DUCHAMP & COMPANY, Curated by Francis M. Naumann, to Feature Over 100 Editions by Duchamp, His Contemporaries, and 21st Century Artists Influenced by the Avant-Garde Master
Sale to Take Place on 23 April in New York
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Marcel Duchamp Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (S. 458), 1937 Estimate: $80,000–100,000 |
Mike Bidlo Fractured Fountain (Not Duchamp Fountain 1917), 2015 Estimate: $30,000–40,000 |
NEW YORK – 31 MARCH 2026 – Phillips is proud to present DUCHAMP & COMPANY, Curated by Francis M. Naumann, an auction presented in collaboration with the esteemed Surrealist scholar, curator, author, and collector, which will take place alongside the seasonal Editions & Works on Paper and Modernism sales in New York. The auction will be dedicated to the profound influence of Marcel Duchamp, featuring over 100 lots by the French-American avant-garde artist and chess player, alongside his contemporaries and the subsequent artists he influenced. Mr. Naumann has joined forces with Phillips to present a rare opportunity for collectors to engage with and bid on some of the artist’s most iconic prints, multiples, designs, and musings. The title selected for this sale — DUCHAMP & COMPANY — comes from words used by Alfred Stieglitz in a letter to Georgia O’Keeffe in describing the people who brought the original 1917 Fountain, the artist’s famed urinal, to his gallery to be photographed. The phrasing is here used to refer to the many contemporary artists who have been influenced by him and are featured in this auction, including Man Ray, Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Pettibone, Mike Bidlo, Sherrie Levine, John Baldessari, and Joseph Kosuth. An exhibition at 432 Park Avenue will be open to the public from 16–22 April in advance of the auction on 23 April at 4pm ET.
Kelly Troester and Cary Leibowitz, Deputy Chairpersons and Worldwide Co-Heads of Editions, said, “Marcel Duchamp irrevocably reshaped how we think about art and authorship, and this sale has been conceived as an homage to that enduring legacy. The project feels especially timely following renewed institutional attention to Duchamp’s work, including an imminent exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, which has reanimated public and scholarly conversations around his practice. We are deeply grateful to Francis M. Naumann for his scholarship, discernment, and generosity in shaping the auction with such care and insight; his lifelong engagement with Duchamp’s work brings extraordinary depth and context to the selection. The works gathered in DUCHAMP & COMPANY reflect an ongoing conversation between the artist and generations who responded to his wit, curiosity, and radical openness, and we are honored to share that dialogue with our community of collectors and enthusiasts.”
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