Robert Kilroy 
Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain 
One Hundred Years Later

This book marks the centenary of Marcel Duchamp’s
Fountain by critically re-examining the established interpretation of the work. It introduces a new methodological approach to art-historical practice rooted in a revised understanding of Lacan, Freud and Slavoj Žižek. In weaving an alternative narrative, Kilroy shows us that not only has
Fountain been fundamentally misunderstood but that this very misunderstanding is central to the work’s significance. The author brings together Duchamp’s own statements to argue
Fountain’s verdict was strategically stage-managed by the artist in order to expose the underlying logic of its reception, what he terms ‘The Creative Act.’ This book will be of interest to a broad range of readers, including art historians, psychoanalysts, scholars and art enthusiasts interested in visual culture and ideological critique.

Table of Content

1. Chapter 1  Étant donnés: 1° la chute d’eau / 2° le gaz d’éclairage.- 2.  Part I Reopening “The Richard Mutt Case”:  Fountain  in 2017.  Chapter 2  Art History and Psychoanalysis Today.- 3. Chapter 3  Duchamp with Lacan through Žižek.- 4.  Part II  Revisiting the Crime Scene: Fountain’s Reception.  Chapter 4  Art Historian as Analyst as Detective.- 5. Chapter 5  The Facts and Curious Features of the Case.- 6.  Part III Retracing the Crime: Fountain Stripped Bare.  Chapter 6  The Artist.- 7. Chapter 7  The Onlooker.- 8. Chapter 8 The Spectator.- 9. Chapter 9  Tasty Affairs.- 10.  Part IV Resolving the Crime: Fountain’s Legacy.  Chapter 10 Posterity.- 11. Chapter 11 The Lighthouse.- 12. Chapter 12 The One-Man Show and the Dealer.- 13. Chapter 13 The Art Historian.

About the author

Robert Thomas Kilroy is Lecturer of Art History and Applied Foreign Languages at University Paris Sorbonne, Abu Dhabi.