Bicycle Wheel (with Stool) — 1913; 1916–17; 1964

{{Short description|Assisted readymade by Marcel Duchamp (first assembled 1913)}} {{Infobox artwork | title = Bicycle Wheel | other_language_1 = French | other_title_1 = ''Roue de bicyclette'' | artist = Marcel Duchamp | year = 1913 (original lost); later replicas 1916, 1951, 1960, 1963, 1964 | type = Assisted readymade / assemblage | medium = Bicycle wheel and fork mounted on a wooden stool | height_metric = 129.5 | width_metric = 63.5 | length_metric = 41.9 | metric_unit = cm | city = New York City (1951 version) | museum = Museum of Modern Art (1951 version) }} '''''Bicycle Wheel''''' (French: ''Roue de bicyclette'') is an assisted readymade by Marcel Duchamp. Duchamp first assembled a bicycle wheel and fork onto a wooden stool in 1913 in Paris; the original object is lost. Later versions—including a 1951 replica now in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and a 1964 edition produced under Duchamp’s supervision by Arturo Schwarz—are held by major museums.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The work exists as multiple replicas/editions; museums typically catalogue a specific version (e.g., MoMA’s “New York, 1951 (third version, after lost original of 1913)”).}}<ref name="MoMA1951">{{cite web |title=Marcel Duchamp. Bicycle Wheel. New York, 1951 (third version, after lost original of 1913) |website=The Museum of Modern Art |url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/81631 |access-date=26 January 2026}}</ref><ref name="Blunck2000">{{cite web |last=Blunck |first=Lars |title=Between Gadget and Re-made: The Revolving History of the Bicycle Wheel |website=Toutfait: The Marcel Duchamp Studies Online Journal |date=1 December 2000 |url=https://www.toutfait.com/between-gadget-and-re-made-the-revolving-history-of-the-bicycle-wheel/ |access-date=26 January 2026}}</ref> Duchamp later described the 1913 assembly as a “happy idea” undertaken for personal pleasure rather than utility.<ref name="UnmakingMuseumBW">{{cite web |title=Bicycle Wheel |website=Toutfait: Unmaking the Museum |url=https://www.toutfait.com/unmaking_the_museum/Bicycle%20Wheel.html |access-date=26 January 2026}}</ref> == Description == ''Bicycle Wheel'' consists of a bicycle wheel mounted (via a fork) onto a stool, allowing the wheel to be spun. In museum contexts it is typically treated as an early example of Duchamp’s readymade practice, while also being described as “assisted” because it is an assemblage rather than a single found object.<ref name="UnmakingMuseumBW" /> == History and versions == === 1913 original and loss === According to later accounts, Duchamp assembled the first version in 1913 in his Paris studio and subsequently lost it. A commonly repeated account is that it disappeared after his move to the United States, when his sister Suzanne cleared his Paris studio.<ref name="GagosianTimeline">{{cite web |last=Wolf |first=Alexander |title=Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel: A Timeline |website=Gagosian Quarterly |date=15 August 2014 |url=https://gagosian.com/quarterly/2014/08/15/duchamps-bicycle-wheel-timeline/ |access-date=26 January 2026}}</ref> === Second version (c. 1916–1917) and studio photographs === Duchamp made a second version around 1916 in New York; it too was later described as lost. Rhonda Roland Shearer (Art Science Research Laboratory) argues that at least five studio photographs—attributed to unknown photographers—are the principal documentary evidence for this second version.<ref name="ShearerBW">{{cite web |last=Shearer |first=Rhonda Roland |title=Why is Marcel Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel Shaking On Its Stool? |website=Art Science Research Laboratory |url=https://asrlab.org/pressreprints/why-is-marcel-duchamps-bicycle-wheel-shaking-on-its-stool/ |access-date=26 January 2026}}</ref> === Replicas and editions (1951–1964) === Duchamp produced further replicas in the mid-20th century. A 1951 version (described by MoMA as the “third version, after lost original of 1913”) is in the Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection at MoMA; MoMA lists its medium as a metal wheel mounted on a painted wood stool (51 × 25 × 16½ in.).<ref name="MoMA1951" /> Later “copie conforme” replicas were constructed with Duchamp’s involvement, including a Stockholm version made by Ulf Linde and Per Olof Ultvedt (1960) and a London version made by Richard Hamilton (1963).<ref name="GagosianTimeline" /><ref name="UnmakingMuseumBW" /> In 1964, Duchamp authorized Arturo Schwarz to produce editions of a number of readymades; Lars Blunck reports that the Schwarz edition of ''Bicycle Wheel'' was produced in an edition “eight plus two,” and that the broader replication program helped stabilize the work’s museum status.<ref name="Blunck2000" /> A 1964 replica (replica of the 1913 original) is held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Duchamp Research Portal lists it as made in Milan, Italy, and gives dimensions of 50½ × 25 × 12½ in. (128.3 × 63.5 × 31.8 cm).<ref name="DuchampPortalPMA">{{cite web |title=Bicycle Wheel (1964) |website=Duchamp Research Portal (Philadelphia Museum of Art) |url=https://www.duchamparchives.org/pma/object/59928/ |access-date=26 January 2026}}</ref> == Shearer’s analysis of the studio photographs == Shearer proposes treating the known studio photographs of the second version as an empirical dataset, reconstructing the implied 3D object from each 2D image and comparing results across the series.<ref name="ShearerBW" /> Shearer reports that such reconstructions yield five meaningfully different configurations rather than a single consistent object, concluding that the photographic record does not converge on one stable “Bicycle Wheel on a Stool.”<ref name="ShearerBW" /> Shearer further argues that several depicted features imply physical instability—citing an off-center wheel axis, damaged or irregular stool elements, and a tilt of wheel and fork. She contends that, under these conditions, the assemblies would have required additional support (e.g., glued stool parts and string) to remain upright or to be spun.<ref name="ShearerBW" /> On this reading, Shearer frames the work as an exploration of “unstable equilibrium” and chance rather than a straightforward selection of mass-produced parts presented unchanged.<ref name="ShearerBW" /><ref name="Blunck2000" /> A related claim in Shearer’s account concerns bicycle design history: she states that straight bicycle forks disappeared from bicycle manufacture by the mid-1880s and that a straight fork would have been difficult to obtain as a “truly readymade” component by 1916–1917.<ref name="ShearerBW" /> == Responses and critique == In a published response, bicycle historian John S. Allen challenged aspects of Shearer’s bicycle-history framing. Allen argued that “boneshaker” refers primarily to earlier bicycles (c. 1863–1878), that later high-wheel bicycles (c. 1878–1890) also used straight forks, and that straight forks remained present on many “safety” bicycles into the late 19th century; he therefore disputed Shearer’s timeline claims about straight forks and related inferences about component provenance.<ref name="Allen2003">{{cite web |last=Allen |first=John S. |title=Straight Forks and Pneumatic Tires: Historicizing Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel of (1913) |website=Toutfait: The Marcel Duchamp Studies Online Journal |date=1 April 2003 |url=https://www.toutfait.com/straight-forks-and-pneumatic-tireshistoricizing-duchamps-bicycle-wheel-of-1913/ |access-date=26 January 2026}}</ref> Allen suggested alternative sources for a straight-fork component (e.g., unicycles or early safety-bicycle forks) and emphasized that fork geometry alone cannot establish whether a component was unavailable as a found object to Duchamp in 1916–1917.<ref name="Allen2003" /> == Legacy == ''Bicycle Wheel'' is frequently discussed in histories of modern art as a touchstone for debates about authorship, replication, and the boundary between found object and constructed assemblage. Blunck argues that successive replicas and museum display conventions transformed the work from a private “gadget” into an institutional emblem of the readymade concept.<ref name="Blunck2000" /> == See also == * Readymades of Marcel Duchamp * Fountain (Duchamp) * Bottle Rack (Duchamp) == Notes == {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} == References == {{reflist}} Category:Artworks by Marcel Duchamp Category:Readymades Category:Kinetic art Category:1913 sculptures

Overview

Observations

- 1964 blueprint ambiguities (legs/rails misread from 1941 Boîte print); final edition regularizes symmetry beyond blueprint depiction

- ASRL 3D model tests of 1916–17 wheel indicate a decentered axis (non‑central hub) producing visible rotation effects.

1964

Art Science Research Lab

See also