Editing: 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

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