The irreverence of the Dada movement still inspires both up and coming and established artists who want to change the art world. He coined the term “readymade,” an idea that is still contentious and also undeniably genius. Taking an everyday object and turning it into a work of art through the theory an artist assigns to it is conceptual art at its most basic, and has become a mainstay of contemporary art.
Jeff Koons, the contemporary master of the readymade, mixes Duchamp’s use of common objects with Andy Warhol’s pop sensibility. His works glorify everyday objects, turning them into big, shiny, expensive versions of their former selves. A prime example is his Rabbit sculpture, which sold at Christie’s in May 2019 for $91.1 million, making it the most expensive work sold by a living artist to date.
