II.

Earliest Forms

The dada movement acquired a name and a recognizable identity only in 1916, but the work of several artists anticipated dada's spirit a few years earlier. In 1913 French artist Marcel Duchamp made the first of his readymades, in which he elevated everyday objects, such as a bicycle wheel or a bottle rack, to the status of sculpture simply by exhibiting them in a gallery and pronouncing them art. Duchamp and French artist Francis Picabia took up temporary residence in New York City in 1915, where they created playful paintings, drawings, and sculptures that depicted figures in the form of mysterious machinery—a jab at new technology. Their work drew the attention of a small but active circle of sympathetic American patrons, writers, and artists, including photographer Man Ray.