Comments

1
Etant Donnes and The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even were my favorites since the tender age of 15. I must have done at least three papers on the latter during undergrad, but never even attempted the former.

It's times like this that I actually (god forbid) miss being a Philadelphia resident. You ain't seen nothing 'til you've seen Etant Donnes in the flesh (as it were).
2
Great post Jen. Thanks.

You don't mention, though you probably know, that part of what is so shocking about the image is that it's not clear WHAT body part you're looking at. You think it should be a vagina, but the gash is weird and twisted, and not centered between the thighs. It could be a deformed pussy. It could be a stab wound. You have to keep looking at it, and it never quite makes sense. It's an incredibly nauseating experience.

Duchamp truly is the artist who keeps on giving. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that all art since Duchamp has been a reaction to his body of work, which has never been equaled.
3
I remember meeting the then-curator of the modern collection at the PMA, only to be regaled with tales of how many angry letters he receives from parents re: Etant Donnes. His solution? Place a step stool in front of it so that every child, regardless of height, is sure to get a good peek.
4
"I first saw it in college, when I was more interested in the readymades. What was I thinking?"

Is that, like, a threat? Like we're gonna have to hear you tell us?
5
Thanks for posting this. I don't know how I'll make it to Philly before November, but this has always been a favorite of mine as well. I missed it the first time I was there (it's sort of out of the way and off to the side and I didn't know what it was) and returned years later specifically to see it.

@1, I also wrote several papers about this piece and The Bride Stripped Bare in college. One interesting point (made by Juan Antonio Ramirez, perhaps?) is that the space occupied by both works is analogous. That is, the door of Etant Donnes is the horizontal barrier between the Region of the Bride and the Region of the Bachelors. Which puts you the viewer in the position of the bachelors, desperately desiring to penetrate the mystery of the bride but getting nothing back except whatever it is you've shot off at her.

SOOOOO GOOD.

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