Duchamp prefigure Walter Benjamin's thesis Essay

Duchamp prefigure Walter Benjamin's thesis - Essay Example The essay "Duchamp prefigure Walter Benjamin's thesis" examines in what ways did the work of Marcel Duchamp prefigure Walter Benjamin's thesis. If for nothing at all, everyone has an appreciation for a good work of art and this makes all people artistic. It is against this backdrop that the development of art has remained a very crucial and important point for discussion for many years. Art has evolved since it was first discovered and the reason behind all these forms of evolutions is to ensure that the production of works of art suit the aesthetic needs of the people to whom it is presented. A key point in global art history in terms of evolutionary art is the early 20th century when Benjamin Walter hypothesized and further came out with an essay on art in the age of mechanical reproduction. In this paper, the ways in which the work of Marcel Duchamp prefigures Walter Benjamin’s thesis in his essay shall be analyzed. Marcel Duchamp has been a major contributing icon to the w ork of art, especially in the 20th century. The 1887 French born had the opportunity of having his first exhibition in 1908 in what was termed Salon d’Automne through the influence of his brother. But since then, Duchamp took a lot of control over what he could do as an artistic personality. It is not for nothing that Perloff notes that Duchamp’s readymades now commands sky-high prices, with people applying for permission to reproduce some of his related images in a scholarly book on modernism paying as much as $200 apiece.