Man Seated by a Window
Marcel Duchamp
American, born France. 1887–1968
1907
An oil-on-canvas scene of a man reading by an open window, in which Duchamp explores light, color, and ordinary modern life with loose, painterly strokes.
You’re first struck by the sunlit window framing a blurred, leafy garden while thick, flickering brushwork makes the seated figure and interior shimmer rather than define them sharply.
Painted in 1907, this early work shows Duchamp’s mastery of Impressionist effects and domestic subject matter just before his radical shift toward conceptual art and the readymade, offering a glimpse of the artist in transition.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
21 7/8 x 15 1/4" (55.6 x 38.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Mary Sisler Bequest
Accession
675.1990
Palette
Exhibitions
