Sweeney, James Johnson. Notes from twenty-third conversation with Marcel Duchamp. Ts, 6 pages, 1945 August

Transcripts of interviews with Duchamp by Richard Hamilton, Katharine Kuh, James Johnson Sweeney, and others. The bulk of the series is comprised of Sweeney's abbreviated, and at times cryptic, notes from several conversations he had with Duchamp in 1945. Topics covered in the interviews include, in approximate order of predominance: Duchamp's artistic intentions for the creation of the Readymades; his work on "The Large Glass" and associated notes; his thoughts concerning the reception and impact of "Nude Descending a Staircase;" and his early life and the influence of his brothers, Jacques Villon and Raymond Duchamp-Villon. He also responds to questions concerning his lasting influence on the art world, the role of chance in his work, his definition of retinal art, and the role of the art onlooker in the completion of a work. Other Duchamp works, specifically "Three Stoppages" and "The King and Queen Surrounded by Swift Nudes" and many other topics are also discussed briefly.