To Those Which They Never Turned Another Cheek: 

L.H.O.O.Q., Duchamp, 1919

“Mass media is useless.”

Duchamp often repeated this as if to explain the motivations behind creating readymades. Unlike Andy Warhol’s collectable works of art, Duchamp emphasizes the worthlessness that the media often complicates in order to mass-produce economic values. To revolt against the monetary value of aesthetic qualities, Duchamp “defaces” commercialized commodities by infusing them with new perspectives.

L.H.O.O.Q., Duchamp’s interpretation of Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” refigures the female’s countenance by adding the presence of a goatee and perfectly-groomed mustache. The title further condemns the popular painting, acting as a pun on the phrase “Elle a chaud au cul,” colloquially translated into English as “She is hot in the ass.”

Duchamp paid no heed to the contempt that many viewers expressed toward his “readymade” art. Many failed to appreciate his rejection of retinal art, and considered his edits to the Da Vinci painting as “highly juvenile and representative of an elementary behavior.” Those self-proclaimed art critics who shared a “more palatable taste in art” felt insulted by Duchamp’s obvious rejection of aesthetics, feeling as if the artist was personally spiting their appreciation for high-art.

Duchamp’s “readymades” are now regarded as part of the Anti-art genre, a term applied to a wide array of philosophies that consider art to be a term inclusive of all variations and forms of art, even those that may be offensive or re-edit historical renditions of art.

Some people still reject the identification of Duchamp’s “readymades” as art, while claiming that their rejection stems from a deep respect for the old masters.