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The Conversation
The Conversation
Matthew Palczynski, Adjunct Faculty, Art History, Temple University

‘Fountain’ might make you laugh or scowl but asks important questions – a Philly art historian explains why Marcel Duchamp’s iconic 1917 sculpture still provokes

'Fountain' by Marcel Duchamp at the Barbican Art Gallery in London in 2013. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” is not for everyone – and it does not need to be.

But it does encapsulate a central concern in the philosophy of art: What makes something art, and who gets to decide?

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