View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ResearchArchive at Victoria University of Wellington Marcel Duchamp and New Zealand Art, 1965 – 2007 By Means of Duchamp’s Peripheral Vision: Case Studies in a History of Reception by Marcus T. G. Moore Volume I A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Art History. Victoria University of Wellington 2012 Marcel Duchamp and New Zealand Art, 1965-2007 Abstract This thesis examines the reception to Marcel Duchamp in New Zealand from 1965 to 2007. It takes as its subject two exceptional occasions when Duchamp’s work arrived in New Zealand and the various ways in which select New Zealand artists have responded to his work since that date. In doing so, this thesis acknowledges the shifting ideologies that underpin the reception of Duchamp which are characteristic of each decade. Thus it reads Duchamp’s reception through the conceptual and ‘linguistic turn’ in post-formalist practices in the late 1960s and 1970s; the neo-avantgarde strategies of the late 1970s and 1980s; a third-wave response to the readymade in the 1990s notion of art as installation practice in the mid- to late 1990s. Finally, it offers a take on the readymade paradigm after post-modernism,− which as seen leads in toa returnan expanded to artisanal craft. This historical account of artistic practice in New Zealand is woven around two remarkable events that entailed Duchamp’s works actually coming to New Zealand, which I reconstruct for the first time. These are: Marcel Duchamp 78 Works: The Mary Sisler Collection (1904–1963), the exhibition that toured Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in 1967; and the bequest of Judge Julius Isaacs and Betty Isaacs to the National Art Gallery in 1982 which included three works by Duchamp. The first took place in the 1960s during the first wave of exhibitions that brought Duchamp to a global audience. Here I argue that, rather than a belated response, this was contemporaneous with other events, proving that New Zealand was an active participant in the initial global reception of Duchamp. The second concerns the process by which Duchamp’s works entered a public collection. Here, I offer an account that reveals the uniqueness of Duchamp’s gifting of artworks to friends, and argues for the special importance of this gift, given the scarcity of Duchamp’s work, due to his limited output. This thesis also reads Duchamp through the lens provided by New Zealand’s situation on the periphery. Thus it offers an analysis of Duchamp’s life and work that, while acknowledging his centrality in twentieth-century art, takes from his example those components of his practice deemed relevant to the situation of art and artists here in New Zealand. By this means I locate those elements of Duchamp’s life story, his work and legacy that tell us something new about how to diffuse the power of the centre. Drawing on the consequences of the processes of decentralisation that have reshaped the landscape of global culture, this account reveals new relationships between margin and centre that provide new ways to connect Duchamp with subsequent generations of New Zealand artists. The aim here is to defy the assumed separation of New Zealand from international trends, rethink our subservient ties to England, to offer a new version of a local art history that knits our artists into a global mainstream without rendering them beholden to a master narrative that derives from elsewhere. 2 Marcel Duchamp and New Zealand Art, 1965-2007 Contents Page Acknowledgements 4 Abbreviations 6 Plates 7 List of Illustrations 8 Prologue 32 Introduction 35 Chapter One Duchamp on the Margins—On Overcoming Territory 57 Chapter Two Marcel Duchamp: 78 Works the Mary Sisler 89 Collection (1904 – 1963), 1967 Chapter Three An Avant-Garde: Post-Object Art, 1969 – 1983 125 Chapter Four The Isaacs’ Bequest (1982) and Other Travelling Accounts 176 Chapter Five Widening the Field 197 Chapter Six Made by Hand and Conclusion 221 Appendices 241 Appendix I Major exhibitions and publications on Duchamp 1954 – 1974 Appendix II Duchamp’s trans-Atlantic and other ocean sailings 1915 – 1942 Bibliography 245 3 Marcel Duchamp and New Zealand Art, 1965-2007 Acknowledgements To Christina Barton who took a real interest in this topic when we first met. Her unique research that figures New Zealand’s borders ‘permeable’ has made for a remarkable period of learning. I am indebted to her knowledge and intellectual standing. Thanks to Dr. Raymond Spiteri for providing sound support as second supervisor, especially his counsel on tackling a timeframe for core chapters and preparation for the oral examination. Massey University provided funds that allowed me to concentrate for a semester on my studies in both 2005 and 2009 with reduced teaching commitments. I thank Assoc. Professor Tony Whincup, Head of School of Visual and Material Culture for approving research grants to enable me to conduct research throughout New Zealand. I thank colleagues in the School of Visual and Material Culture and School of Fine Arts who have provided support along the way—especially Dr. Bronwyn Labrum and Georgiana Morison. Thanks to Shelley Carlyle for providing a proof of the full draft and Gretchen Leach for her eagle eyes and proficiency with grammar when proofing the final document. I am most thankful to Alice Moore for her assistance with the collation and compilation of the visual support in Volume II. Thanks to Rebecca Rice and Matt Plummer, two fellow postgraduate students in art history, who have been supportive and were always willing to have a chat and share E-mail. Special thanks must be paid to Gil Docking. His correspondence provided insight into the origin of the Sisler Collection tour to New Zealand in 1967. To the late Don Peebles for the review of the Duchamp show he wrote in 1967 and his insights on events. Sincere thanks to all the artists and arts professionals who assisted me in this research. Adrian ‘Reginald’ Hall, Jim Allen and Bruce Barber, Kieran Lyons, Roger Peters, and David Mealing have been informants on their work and Auckland post-object art in the 1970s. Andrew Drummond and Paul Cullen were both generous in interview and when I followed up in E-mail correspondence. Thanks to Professor Wystan Curnow. In an early interview he offered some real encouragement for the topic yet urged me to make my case studies carefully. Later he provided thoughts at a crucial time. Many thanks to Dr. John Finlay for encouraging me, particularly extending discussion on the context of the European avant-garde and the merging of the boundaries between artist and skilled labourer. Thanks also to Robert Leonard, who took an interest in my studies and talked me through some material. Jim Barr provided assistance with recollections on his time as a student in 1967 in Christchurch, and his gift of an original catalogue of the Sisler Collection exhibition was a generous touch in support. Information gathering from archives and libraries has been an extensive task. I am grateful to Susan Thomson (Graduate student, University of New York) for providing photocopies of letters housed in the Mary Sisler Archives, Museum of Modern Art. Individuals who work in archives, libraries and museums in New Zealand have offered me much support. At the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa: Jennifer Twist (Archivist); Jo Moore (Image Centre); Tony Mackle 4 Marcel Duchamp and New Zealand Art, 1965-2007 (Prints and Works on Paper); Victoria Boyack (Te Aka Matua Reference Librarian). At the E H McCormick, Auckland Reference Library, AAG, special thanks to Caroline McBride and to Catherine Hammond. At the Elam School of Fine Arts Reference Library, Auckland University, Jane Dodd (Elam Archives). Thanks to the Christchurch Art Gallery archivist/librarian Tim Jones and Erin Kimber at the MacMillan Brown library. Special thanks to Devon Sinclair at the Ilam School of Fine Arts reference library (before its disestablishment in 2007). Locating images for reproduction has been a considerable task. I am grateful to individuals listed above for their assistance. I am particularly indebted to artists and arts professionals for supplying these from their personal collections or pointing me in the right direction. Many thanks to my lovely friends Maddie Leach and Gary Bridle up the road in Karehana Bay. Thanks to Tim and Jane Sandbrook for looking after Tobias and Elliot on the occasions I conducted primary research in Auckland; and to Jane for two weeks in June 2011 when I really needed time to push the final draft. To my sister Sarah Moore who went through some real personal trials in 2009 and by holding up so well gave others strength. I owe gratitude to my brother Michael Moore for reading draft material at various stages throughout my studies and his constructive feedback. To my parents Brian and Margaret Moore for looking after Tobias and Elliot on the occasions I was conducting research in Christchurch and Otago; for clarifying some points on mathematics and physics over the telephone, and for their love and support over many years. To my extraordinary family: Alice Kate, Tobias and Elliot. I simply could not leave them out. They are my home. 5 Marcel Duchamp and New Zealand Art, 1965-2007 Abbreviations In referencing the following abbreviations will be employed. ACAG Auckland City Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki CAG Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu CAGA Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu Archives EHMcCRL E. H. McCormick Reference Library, Auckland City Art Gallery Elam Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland GBAG Govett-Brewster Art Gallery MoMA Museum of Modern Art New York MoMAA Museum of Modern Art Archives MSPP Mary Sisler Personal Papers NAG National Art Gallery POAA Post-object Art Archives RMcDAG Robert McDougall Art Gallery TAMRL Te Aka Matua Reference Library, Te Papa Te Papa Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa TPA Te Papa Archives 6 Marcel Duchamp and New Zealand Art, 1965-2007 List of Plates Plates Plate 1.