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Belle Haleine, Eau de Voilette
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[[File:Marcel Duchamp (Rrose Selavy), Man Ray, 1920-21, Belle Haleine, Eau de Voilette.jpg|thumb|[[Marcel Duchamp|Marcel Duchamp (Rrose Selavy)]], [[Man Ray]], 1920-21, ''Belle Haleine, Eau de Voilette'']]
'''''Belle Haleine, Eau de Voilette''''' is a work of art by [[Marcel Duchamp]], in collaboration with [[Man Ray]]. First conceived in 1920, the work is one of what Duchamp referred to as [[Readymades of Marcel Duchamp|readymades]], or more specifically a rectified ready-made.<ref name="toutfait">[https://ift.tt/2RhoMLH ''Belle Haleine eau de Voilette or Beautiful Breath: Veil Water''], The Marcel Duchamp Studies Online Journal, tout fait.com</ref><ref name="Norton Simon">[https://ift.tt/2jrpbe2 Marcel Duchamp, ''L.H.O.O.Q. or La Joconde'', 1964 (replica of 1919 original)] [[Norton Simon Museum]], Pasadena</ref>
A photograph of the object, by Man Ray, was reproduced on the cover of ''New York Dada'' magazine in April 1921.<ref>[https://ift.tt/2R7tV8Y ''The Oxford Critical and Cultural History of Modernist Magazines''], Volume III, Europe 1880 - 1940'', p. 177</ref> This "readymade" consisted of a Rigaud brand perfume bottle with a modified label. It involved taking a mundane, utilitarian object, not generally considered to be art, and transforming it by adding a new label.<ref>[https://ift.tt/2PQjj1A Rudolf E. Kuenzli, ''Dada and Surrealist Film''], MIT Press, 1996, p. 47, </ref>
17 November 1999, a readymade by Duchamp, ''[[Fountain (Duchamp)|Fountain]]'' (owned by [[Arturo Schwarz]]) was sold at [[Sotheby's]], New York, for $1,762,500 to Dimitris Daskalopoulos, who declared that ''Fountain'' represented the origin of [[contemporary art]].<ref></ref> The price set a world record, at the time, for a work by Marcel Duchamp at public auction.<ref>[https://ift.tt/2RbPqW1 Francis M. Naumann, ''The Art Defying the Art Market''], Tout-fait: The Marcel Duchamp Studies Online Journal, vol. 2, 5, April 2003</ref><ref>[https://ift.tt/2PSmK7L Carter B. Horsley, ''Contemporary Art & 14 Duchamp Readymades''], The City Review, 2002</ref> The record has since been surpassed by ''Belle haleine–Eau de voilette'' (1921) sold at [[Christie's]] Paris. The readymade of a perfume bottle in its box sold for a record $11.5 million (€8.9 million).<ref>[https://ift.tt/2RcTzsW Laurie Hurwitz, ''Saint Laurent Collection Soars at Christie's Paris'']. Duchamp's ''Belle haleine–Eau de Voilette'', 1921</ref>
[[File:Marcel Duchamp (Rrose Selavy), Man Ray, 1920-21, Belle Haleine, Eau de Voilette, cover of New York Dada, April 1921.jpg|thumb|Marcel Duchamp (Rrose Selavy), Man Ray, 1920-21, ''Belle Haleine, Eau de Voilette''. Cover of ''New York Dada'' magazine. Cover of ''New York Dada'', New York, April 1921]]
==Overview==
Duchamp removed the label from a perfume bottle, then proceeded, with Man Ray, to alter the object in several ways. The new label was specifically created by the two artists for the Rigaud bottle. For this reason ''Belle Haleine, Eau de Voilette'' is often referred to as a an 'assisted readymade'.<ref name="toutfait" /> The model on the label is [[Marcel Duchamp#Rrose Sélavy|Rrose Sélavy]], an [[alter ego]] of Marcel Duchamp and one of his pseudonyms. Sélavy emerged in 1921, on this label, for the first time, though the name was first used to sign a readymade, ''Fresh Widow'', in 1920.<ref name="toutfait" /> Man Ray continued a series of photographs showing Duchamp dressed as a woman through the 1920s. Duchamp later used the name as the byline on written material and signed Rrose Sélavy on several works. The ambiguity of Duchamp in drag is not dissimilar to the image of the [[Mona Lisa]] with a goatee and moustache in Duchamp's ''[[L.H.O.O.Q.]]'' (1919). Mona Lisa became a man, and Duchamp became a woman.<ref name="toutfait" />
The original label on the Rigaud bottle read "Un air qui embaume" (meaning An Air That Enbalms), "Eau de Violette" (or Violet Water). By swapping positions of the "i" and "o" Duchamp and Man Ray obtained "Eau de Voilette" (meaning Veil Water). "Un air qui embaume" was replaced with the unapologetic "Belle Halaine" (or "Beautiful Breath"). The "R" for Rigaud became "RS" for Rrose Sélavy.<ref name="toutfait" />
The object touches on several issues; authorship, since the label is by Rigaud, Duchamp and Man Ray; gender identity or sexual orientation, as the woman's perfume now has a Duchamp as its principle image. Further sexual connotations arise due to suggestions of smell, touch, and taste intrinsic to the piece.<ref name="toutfait" />
==References==
[[Category:Marcel Duchamp works]]
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:1921 works]]
[[Category:Parodies]]
[[Category:Found object]]
November 25, 2018 at 08:21PM
