Here we have another work of art from the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome that provoked scandals but also several curiosities (and if you want to know more about another beautiful work of art of this fine gallery click here).

Here you can find a "copy", even though I know that may sound strange, but it is so, of the urinal by Duchamp! The official name of this work of art is "Fountain". But the main questione is: why an urinal in a museum? Usually nothing, but imagine how, for the art of the last century, it is considered a masterpiece! Duchamp did a very simple thing:  he radically changed our conception of art! We were accustomed to, especially in the western civilization, paintings, sculptures, statues and monumental buildings of various kinds. But with this work, Duchamp in the early ’900, after the World War One, has shown that the true art lies not in the subject or in the production of style, as in the object itself and in the container in which it is located. Putting an urinal in a museum room automatically makes it a work of art, also because of its location. It was designed by the artist for this, as it is a work of art. In this way, and basically, everything could become a masterpiece.

Why is this idea so bizarre but, at the same time, revolutionary for the history of art? Because after the horrors of the World War One, Duchamp believed that there was need of a boost, that all human knowledge before the war had helped to make the man so cruel, causing millions of deaths. For the artist you had to start from scratch, highlighting the fact that there were more points of reference, even in the ancient western art. A clear example of ready made as he called it: ready to use, already made. What counts is not the form but the idea, the choice of the artist, which was not to invent anything, stylistically, because everything could be art. Another point of interest is represented by the signature, that is clearly readable: "R. Mutt 1917". Here we see the pseudonym that Duchamp used it to present his urinal, called officially "The Fountain", the american Society of Independent Artists (a sort of an association dedicated to art exhibitions). It seems that the jury didn't understood at all why a simple urinal should be a work of art and, therefore, not exposed and then discarded. It is a pity but in this way we can understand how this kind of art is really hard to be understood, even for the people of that time. A ready made like this one was an object that lost its typical and original function in order to gain a new status, becoming a work of art thanks to a changement (as the signature added by Duchamp). In this way the artist underlined how what was important were the sensations and intentions of the master, who became the real main character. Another time the National Gallery of Modern Art of Rome is able to show us new concepts of art.