Marcel Duchamp – The Schwerin Collection

Schwerin’s Marcel Duchamp collection consists of 90 works in total, including ready-mades, sculptures, graphics, poster and book designs, as well as two versions of his famous Box in a Suitcase (1941/1966), a kind of miniature museum that presents his main works together in the smallest of spaces.

The acquisition of the collection from Ronny van de Velde represented a minor sensation not only for the Staatliches Museum Schwerin, but also for Germany, if not for all of Europe. Because Marcel Duchamp ensured already when he was still alive that his works were removed from the art market and transferred directly into the hands of just a few collectors and museums.

The most important Duchamp collection can be found in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In addition there are extremely exciting sets of the artist’s works in the State Gallery Stuttgart among others. Likewise, such sets can be found in the Tate Modern in London, the Moderna Museet in Stockholm and the MOMA in New York.

Schwerin is now one of the few places in Europe when works by Marcel Duchamp can be seen. And they frequently leave Schwerin and head off "on tour" – as part of highly diverse thematic exhibitions held throughout the world that serve to underscore the importance of Duchamp’s oeuvre in the present times.

Inventory Duchamp Collection

The Box in a Valise

From or by Marcel Duchamp or Rrose Sélavy, The Box in a Valise, 1941/1966
Outside: red leather, inside: red linen, 80 miniature replicas and colour reproductions, 41,5 x 38,5 x 9,9 cm, series F, 75 copies.
© Succession Marcel Duchamp / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2016

From or by Marcel Duchamp or Rrose Sélavy, The Box in a Valise 1941/1966
69 miniature replicas and reproductions, 39 x 35 x 8 cm, similar to series A
© Succession Marcel Duchamp / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2016