“I became a librarian at the Sainte-Genevieve Library in Paris. I made this gesture to rid myself of a certain milieu, a certain attitude, to have a clean conscience, but also to make a living. I was twenty-five. I had been told that one must make a living, and I believed it.”

French-American artist, chess player, and inventor

Marcel Duchamp was a French-American artist, chess player, and inventor. He played a key role in the development of the avant-garde in the United States, and later spent the last 25 years of his life in New York City. Duchamp is known for work that helped reshape modern art and for a mind that moved easily between art, chess, and invention. His influence is especially tied to the avant-garde scene in New York, where he became an important figure in its growth and wider recognition.