Hat Rack (Duchamp)
Hat Rack (Duchamp)
Hatrack (French: Porte‐chapeaux) is a sculpture conceived by Marcel Duchamp in New York around 1916–1917. The original object is lost. The work is known through a small number of representations— two shadows (1918), a studio photograph (1916–17, published later) and a derived print (1941), plus a 1964 blueprint and a 1964 wood edition produced under the direction of Duchamp by Arturo Schwarz. Taken together, these “snapshots” do not agree in hook‐count, curvature, or overall geometry. As a result, institutional cataloguing, auction metadata, and secondary literature describe the object in divergent ways.
Hatrack (1916–18; 1964)
Summary
- Artist: [[Marcel Duchamp]] (1887–1968)
- Common title(s): Hatrack (also “Readymade” in 1941 [[Boîte‑en‑valise]])
- Original: 1916–17 (lost)
- Status: Known via 6 “snapshots” (5×2D, 1×3D)
- Key claim (Shearer): Hook counts/curvatures vary; blueprint, edition, and photos do not converge to a single mass‑produced model.
Background
Institutional and auction records for Hatrack present inconsistent metadata—titles, materials, dimensions, and installation notes—reflecting the mismatch among representations (1916–1964) and the 1964 edition’s attempt to stabilize a single form.
Timeline of representations — as seen by spectators (narrow)
Early representations show the object suspended by string (studio photo; Cast Shadows) or cast as a shadow (Tu m). The 1964 model’s equal hooks, radial symmetry, and carving suggest a reconstruction rather than a straightforward wall‐mounted rack; its practical orientation as a “hatrack” is non‐obvious compared to period bentwood comparanda (e.g., Thonet).[1]
| Year (seen) | Snapshot | Illus. |
|---|---|---|
| 1918 | [[Tu m’ (detail)]] — 2D shadow; 2L+3S (inverted) | [[2A]]; [[15A]] |
| 1918 (photo) | [[Ombres portées (Cast Shadows) 1918]] — 2D photo; 3L+2S | [[2B]]; [[17]]; [[18A]] |
| 1941 | [[Boîte‑en‑valise]] print (from studio) — 2D; retouched | [[2C]]; [[10]] |
| 1960s (made 1916–17) | [[Studio photograph (found later)]] — 2D; altered view | — |
| 1964 | [[Workshop drawing]] — blueprint; 2L+3S; odd short hook | [[2E]]; [[11A–C]] |
| 1964 (seen 1991) | Schwarz edition — 3D wood (ed. 8); 6 equal hooks | [[2F]]; [[14A]] |
Key: L = long hook, S = short hook
Observations
- Hook numbers, lengths, and curvatures change across the six depictions; a single 3D form cannot be reconstructed from the full set.
- Blueprint vs. edition: 1964 blueprint (signed “okay, Marcel Duchamp”) does not match Schwarz’s final 3D form; the first version was reportedly rejected.
- Comparandum: [[1904 Thonet bentwood hatrack (#11022)]] is the closest historical type but still does not match any single depiction; see [[Related / Comparative Works Referenced]].
Summary
No original, store‐bought 1916–17 hatrack survives. In 1964, Duchamp oversaw the production of authorized editions of several readymades, including Hatrack (wood, edition of 8 plus standard proofs), on the basis of photographs and Duchamp’s notes. Title usage varies (Hat Rack, Hatrack, Porte‐chapeaux); dates are typically given as 1917/1964.
Related / Comparative Works Referenced
Works / objects (narrow)
| Work (maker) | Date | Role · Illus |
|---|---|---|
| Thonet hatrack (#11022) — Thonet Bros. | 1904 | Design comparandum; closest historical type; 3 “S”; wall‑mounted · [[7A–D]] [[8A]] [[9]] [[15B]] |
| Tu m’ (hatrack shadow) — Marcel Duchamp | 1918 | Painting (shadow); 2L+3S fragments; asymmetries · [[2A]] [[15A]] |
| Ombres portées (Cast Shadows) — Marcel Duchamp | 1918 | Photograph; hatrack shadow 3L+2S; With Hidden Noise appears twice · [[2B]] [[17]] [[18A]] |
| A bruit secret (With Hidden Noise) — Marcel Duchamp | 1916 | Readymade; appears twice in Cast Shadows · [[18A–B]] |
| The Blind Man No. 2 (P.B.T.) — Journal | 1917 | Publication; venue for Stieglitz Fountain photo · [[38A–B]] |
| In the Manner of Delvaux — Marcel Duchamp | 1942 | Photographic composite; montage competence · [[21A]] |
| Rotative plaques de verre — Marcel Duchamp | 1920 | Kinetic/optical; referenced in Man Ray studio photo (circular motif) · (Gould textbox) |
| Rotoreliefs — Marcel Duchamp | 1935 | Optical discs; 1‑eye stereo; interactive context · [[55]] |
| Wanted Poster — Marcel Duchamp | 1921 (printed 1941) | Poster; stereo experiment; box edges/portraits fuse · [[57A–C]] |
| The Large Glass — Marcel Duchamp | 1915–23 | Major work; empirical “multi‑view” mapping (~43 parts) · [[49A–D]] [[51A–G]] |
| Chocolate Grinder — Marcel Duchamp | 1913–14 | Component motif; perspective tests & animations · [[49A]] [[51A–C]] |
| Green Box (notes) — Marcel Duchamp | 1934 | Notes (typographic ed.); readymade timing/seriality · [[1]] |
| White Box (À l’infinitif) — Marcel Duchamp | 1967 (notes 1911–15) | Notes; two‑state (“general/particular”) diagrams · [[3A–B]] [[4A–C]] |
| Picasso, Violin and Grapes — Pablo Picasso | 1912 | Cubist painting; alternate to single‑view perspective · [[62]] |
Methods / Forensics cited (narrow)
- Black‑ground compositing examples (1898 handbook) · [[42A–D]]
- Dino A. Brugioni, Photo Fakery (1999) — perspective diagnostics; “fluffy edges” · [[23H–I]] [[30]] [[31A–B]]
References
Sarah Boxer (1999), “Taking Jokes By Duchamp To Another Level of Art,” The New York Times. Appears in the old References (items 12 and again as 20); not present in the current References. Oct 14 2025
Rhonda Roland Shearer, Gregory Alvarez, Robert Slawinski, Vittorio Marchi (textbox by Stephen Jay Gould), “Why the Hatrack is and/or is not Readymade,” Tout‑Fait (2000; updated 2019). Figures cited as “Illustration x / xA–xF” refer to that essay.
https://hatrack.readymade.wiki/view/welcome-visitors
https://duchamp.cat/view/welcome-visitors/view/recent-changes/view/readymades-of-marcel-duchamp
Sources
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Hat Rack (Porte-chapeaux) - Centre Pompidou
Out of a hat rack, Marcel Duchamp made this familiar early 20th century indoor object into a mobile projecting shadows on the wall. Apart from subverting their usual functions, a large part of the unusual repurposing of ready-mades is based on the way they are exhibited. ln his studio or at exhibitions, the artist presents this one suspended and inverted readymade. The device offers new ...
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Hat Rack (Duchamp) — Grokipedia
Hat Rack (French: Porte-chapeaux) is a lost readymade by Marcel Duchamp conceived in New York around 1916-1917. The lost 1917 original is known only through early documentary images: a 1916-1917 studio photograph, shadows in Tu m' (1918) and Cast Shadows (1918), and a print in the Boîte-en-valise (1941) that is derivative of the studio photograph. The work also survives in the 1964 ...
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Hat Rack - The Art Institute of Chicago
Marcel Duchamp, 1916/1964
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Hat Rack (1917) by Marcel Duchamp - Artchive
"Hat Rack" is a sculpture created by Marcel Duchamp in 1917. This ready-made artwork, which is associated with the Dada art movement, is currently housed in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel.
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Hat Rack (Porte-chapeaux) | Duchamp Research Portal
Hat Rack (Porte-chapeaux) 1917 / 1964 Ready-made Porte-chapeaux suspendu au plafond Bois Centre Pompidou
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Hat Rack (Porte-chapeaux) - Centre Pompidou
Duchamp fait du porte-chapeaux, objet familier des intérieurs du début du 20e siècle, un mobile projetant des ombres sur le mur. Une bonne part de l'insolite des readymades, mis à part le détournement de leur fonction usuelle, repose sur la façon de les exposer.
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Hat Rack (Porte Chapeau) - Tout-Fait
An everyday, functional household item, this hat rack suspends from the ceiling and is in turn rendered useless. It is literally out of reach. Ramirez compares the form of Hat Rack to that of a female spider and praying mantis (44). Its shadow, as seen in Shadows of Readymades, looks like a spider sitting on the web of another Readymade's shadow.
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Hat Rack, 1917 - Marcel Duchamp - WikiArt.org
'Hat Rack' was created in 1917 by Marcel Duchamp in Dada style. Find more prominent pieces of sculpture at Wikiart.org - best visual art database.