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Marcel Duchamp: The Afternoon Interviews Paperback – February 28, 2013

by Calvin Tomkins (Author), Marcel Duchamp (Artist)
4.6 out of 5 stars 212 ratings
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Revelatory, previously unpublished interviews with Duchamp from his biographer and greatest champion

In 1964, Calvin Tomkins spent a number of afternoons interviewing Marcel Duchamp in his apartment on West 10th Street in New York. Casual yet insightful, Duchamp reveals himself as a man and an artist whose playful principles toward living freed him to make art that was as unpredictable, complex, and surprising as life itself. Those interviews have never been edited and made public, until now. The Afternoon Interviews, which includes an introductory interview with Tomkins reflecting on Duchamp as an artist, guide and friend, reintroduces the reader to key ideas of his artistic world and renews Duchamp as a vital model for a new generation of artists.

Calvin Tomkins was born in 1925 in Orange, New Jersey. He joined the New Yorker as a staff writer in 1960. His many profiles include John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Merce Cunningham, Leo Castelli, Damien Hirst, Richard Serra, Bruce Nauman, Cindy Sherman and Jasper Johns. Tomkins is the author of 12 books, including The Bride and the Bachelors (1965), Living Well Is the Best Revenge (1971), Lives of the Artists (2008) and Duchamp: A Biography (1996).
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  1. Print length
    110 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Badlands Unlimited
  4. Publication date
    February 28, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    5.1 x 0.3 x 7.9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1936440393
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1936440399
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Editorial Reviews

Review

A forthcoming book presents previously unpublished interviews with Marcel Duchamp from 1964 by longtime New Yorker contributor Calvin Tompkins. Adding to the veritable industry of publications devoted to the artist.' -- Brian Boucher ― Art in America

These previously unreleased interviews, conducted in Duchamp's New York home in 1964, reveal the master at his playful, ever-provocative ease. -- Sue Taylor ― Art in America

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Badlands Unlimited
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 28, 2013
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 110 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1936440393
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1936440399
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 0.3 x 7.9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 212 ratings

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Calvin Tomkins

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4.6 out of 5 stars
212 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book provides wonderful insight into Duchamp, with one review describing it as fine interviews with an artist-philosopher. The book is easy to read, making it a quick and enjoyable experience for customers.

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14 customers mention "Insight"14 positive0 negative

Customers find the interviews insightful, particularly appreciating Duchamp's excellent interview skills and how they reveal his personality.

"This is a nice reflection and good introduction to notions that have unfolded over time about art...." Read more

"Good work, good interviews...a little on the small side." Read more

"...His clear mind & sense of purpose are very evident in this book, as well as his playfulness & very astute sense of humor...." Read more

"This is a good quick read and overview into the mind of Duchamp and his view of his creative process (or non-process)." Read more

12 customers mention "Readability"12 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable, describing it as a fabulous and quick read, with one customer noting it's a welcome summertime read.

"...A nice read." Read more

"Good work, good interviews...a little on the small side." Read more

"A fabulous read...Calvin Tomkins at his best & a wonderful insight into Duchamp, much of it in his own words...." Read more

"This is a good quick read and overview into the mind of Duchamp and his view of his creative process (or non-process)." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • My Eyes Read
    5.0 out of 5 stars Much of contemporary art traces to Duchamp
    Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    This is a nice reflection and good introduction to notions that have unfolded over time about art.

    The fact that Tomkins came to art via Duchamp...by chance
    ...correlates to the idea of the evolution of contemporary art and the art world in the last century. It was chance and new directions separating the past from the present.

    The speed of life makes Duchamp part of the slow movement currently.....long reads, slow food. He is still relevant and yes, at the root of much that has happened.

    A nice read.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Kevin Killian
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interior Contradictions
    Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2013
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    Marcel Duchamp was an enigma to many, and the new collection of his interviews (conducted in the early 60s by a magazine writer attempting a profile on a mercurial figure) will fascinate those already hooked on the guy, while newcomers will find here an easy, painless and exceedingly swift introduction into the mind and humor of one of the world's leading artistic figures. At least our book club found it so: in our club there are veritable Duchamp newbies while at the other end of the spectrum there are those among us who have studied him for ages. One man revealed that his dad took his little hand in his big hand and walked our member into the Pasadena Museum of Art where under Walter Hopps wise tutelage Duchamp sat and played chess with a totally nude girl--a sight to dream of, not to tell, as Coleridge said in a similar situation.

    Anyhow there are a few puzzles in the book, such as, why was this material been hidden for so long? The addenda to the slim volume fail to mention the provenance, though artist slash publisher Paul Chan interviews Calvin Tompkins about his long ago meetings with Duchamp; we just don't hear about it. Maybe Tompkins, who interviewed Chan himself for the New Yorker not all that long ago, stumbled onto these treasures in an old vase or attic and mentioned them to the young artist over drinks at La Cote Basque, 1965. But all of us were grateful that they are here for us now. Duchamp remains full of tricks, and so deadpan that some of his amazing provocations go unchallenged, and contradictory from afternoon to afternoon.

    He grows irate--maybe not irate, but call it upset--only once or twice, when Tompkins tries to link him to one or another artistic movements--the Dadists, the pop artists, the Futurists, and Duchamp resists being put into a box and goes to absurd lengths and prevarications to escape categorization. Once or twice his resort to pidgin English betray anxiety, he speaks of people with good taste (whom he disdains) as "tast-y people," and any reader will find other examples, peculiar in such an erudite yet plainspoken guy. He can be quite funny and outrageous, but used I think by this date to hearing the words, "Yes Master" so often that he doesn't hear anything else. And then there's the question of Tompkins finding out only after Duchamp's death that he actually hadn't given up making art, and was busy for twenty years creating the sketches, maquettes, scaffolds and drawings of the "Etants Donnes." One thinks, if he could omit so smoothly the most important item on his agenda, what else is his bland, humorous tone keeping from The New Yorker and from Tompkins personally? And thus from us. I find it hard to believe a thing he says, and such are the lessons of postmodernism. As if to compensate, Tompkins argues that by the time they met (say, 1959) Duchamp had mellowed and warmed due to the influence of Teeny, his enchanting American-born wife who made life worth living for everyone she knew. He must have been horrid with a chip on his shoulder, but here, he's wise and paternal as, say, Walt Disney was hosting The Wonderful World of Disney.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • Lucy Adruh
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2017
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    Good work, good interviews...a little on the small side.
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  • Ann C. Greenwood
    5.0 out of 5 stars Calvin Tomkins at his best & a wonderful insight into Duchamp
    Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    A fabulous read...Calvin Tomkins at his best & a wonderful insight into Duchamp, much of it in his own words. I started reading it right after I opened the package & finished it the next morning.
    In all of the art history I have studied, Duchamp has generally been presented as mysterious &/or inexplicable. His clear mind & sense of purpose are very evident in this book, as well as his playfulness & very astute sense of humor.
    A must for anyone interested in the evolution of Modern Art.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier
    5.0 out of 5 stars A good quick read
    Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2019
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    This is a good quick read and overview into the mind of Duchamp and his view of his creative process (or non-process).
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  • Roger Shepherd
    3.0 out of 5 stars Imagine listening to your favorite artist talk about life, working, and other artists
    Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    I just had a most rewarding experience reading—and listening—to a book. The volume in question is Marcel Duchamp: The Afternoon Interviews, by Calvin Tomkins, published earlier this past year by Badlands Unlimited. The text is entirely comprised of transcribed conversations that took place between Duchamp and Tomkins fifty years ago.

    In addition to the text —

    "the enhanced e-book includes four audio clips, including three from the original 1964 recording of the interview and a never before heard clip of Tomkins in 2012 telling a short story about Duchamp."

    Oddly, the three audio clips featuring Duchamp reveal sizeable discrepancies between his recorded remarks and the versions that appear on the screen. The most significant difference occurs on page 36 (page 45 in the ebook) in a passage about the formation of the Société Anonyme. In the audio clip, Duchamp remarks on what it means to be a “museum of modern art.” His observations on this subject have not been transcribed.

    These discrepancies between text and audio are by no means minor—the meaning of everything in the book is altered through misrepresentation, especially since there is no introduction, let alone footnotes—no warning that cuts or changes have been made and what they might be. I purchased the print version just to make sure that this is the case with both. The book and the ebook don’t vary in any way, (except that there are no sound files included with the former).

    It’s too easy to point to this as a weakness in the publication. However, I don’t want to, since, for one thing, it’s obvious. For another, it gives one pause to ponder how often this happens in editing, regardless of the medium. For whatever reason (space, relevancy) the author/editor made the kinds of decisions that take place all the time. The good news, if there is any, is that now we have a way, as never before, to compare a transcribed text with the original audio record (assuming that too hasn’t been edited).

    No, I actually want to praise this project for presenting me with possibility. To be able to encounter significant discrepancies between the text and the sound files opens up enormous potential for interpretation (assuming one pays attention) that would not have presented itself if we were reading text in print alone.

    My only regret is that I can’t hear the whole thing.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • kitty kat
    5.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed it very much.
    Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2019
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    I think the book shows Duchamp's personality quite well. I liked it. If you're interested in him, read this because he is the one speaking, (it's all Q & A).
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  • Steve
    4.0 out of 5 stars the enigmatic respirateur
    Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    if only i would have learned from marcel, instead of wasting my time with all those gurus. i learned about art and life from this book. fine interviews with an artist-philosopher who knew when to quit.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Rowan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 28, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    For those who love Duchamp this small book it As I mentioned it is a small book and that is the only criticism of it I could have read many more interviews but it spurred me to buy the autobiography of Duchamp by the same author. Highly recommended.
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  • Kathy Boyd
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very fast
    Reviewed in Canada on December 22, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    For my husband. This cable is excellent. These have nice thick cords, Just as described. Should hold up for quite some time. Quick delivery and good packaging. Very recommened .
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  • Michael Schulte
    5.0 out of 5 stars Spannendes P.S.
    Reviewed in Germany on July 3, 2013
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    Neben Picasso war Marcel Duchamp der wohl bedeutendste Künstler des 20. Jahrhunderts. Sein Werk, ohne das ein Joseph Beuys nicht denkbar wäre, hat erregende Spuren hinterlassen. Duchamp hat zahllose Essays und Selbstinterpretationen hinterlassen, denen man aber mit Mißtrauen begegnen sollte. Er liebte das Versteck- und Verwirrspiel. Und so sind auch diese Interwiews, geführt von dem Duchampkenner und -biografen Calvin Tomkins, nicht immer als bare Münze zu nehmen. ("Glauben Sie kein Wort von dem, was ich sage.") Amüsant zu lesen und informativ ist das Bändchen allemal.
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  • Fernando Bakos
    5.0 out of 5 stars Único
    Reviewed in Brazil on November 21, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Outros pontos de vista sobre os processos criativos de Duchamp por ele mesmo, uma joia. Curioso e revelador sobre a arte contemporânea.
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  • Kevin McKiernan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful & Personal Interviews
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 19, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    A wonderful insight into the life and reflection s of Marcel Duchamp, very enjoyable. I highly recommend it!
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