Elaine Sturtevant
Elaine Sturtevant (1924–2014), born in Lakewood, Ohio, lived and worked in New York and Paris. Known simply as Sturtevant, she gained prominence for her provocative practice of meticulously reproducing the works of her contemporaries, including artists like Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jasper Johns. Far from mere imitation, her work interrogated authorship, originality, and the mechanisms of the art world. By restaging iconic pieces before they had become canonized, Sturtevant anticipated critical discussions on appropriation and media saturation. Her bold vision, initially met with skepticism, later earned her recognition as a conceptual trailblazer whose influence resonates deeply in contemporary art discourse.
Duchamp Triptych
1998
From Sequences
a, b: Two grano lithographs and c: Silkscreen, all on Rives rag paper. Each print 50 x 40 cm (19¾ x 15¾ in), each signed and numbered. Edition of 60 + X.
In this edition, Elaine Sturtevant revisits three of Marcel Duchamp’s most iconic motifs: the bicycle wheel, the urinal (Fountain), and the optical spirals. True to her conceptual method developed since the mid-1960s, Sturtevant does not merely copy these images but strategically re-creates them, stripping away the aura of the original and the dominance of the artist’s signature. Rather than positioning imitation in opposition to originality, the triptych collapses that binary, exposing the mechanics of authorship and the circulation of images in art history. By re-performing Duchamp’s provocations, Sturtevant reveals the underlying structures of artistic identity and meaning. Her repetitions do not reproduce Duchamp – they expose Duchamp-as-phenomenon, allowing the viewer to engage with the work beyond the myth of the artist-genius. In this sense, Duchamp Triptych becomes less homage and more analytical lens, through which the viewer confronts the conditions that define and sustain “the work of art” itself.
Set EUR 1,800
