Suzanne Duchamp – KUNSTHAUS

The Dadaist and painter Suzanne Duchamp, sister of Marcel Duchamp, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, and Jacques Villon, was at the forefront of her time and left a lasting impact on art history. For the first time worldwide, Suzanne Duchamp's work is being presented in a comprehensive retrospective, showcasing all its facets – from her early abstract compositions and Dadaist experiments to the figurative works of her later years.

Exhibition view Kunsthaus Zürich, Photo © Franca Candrian

Irony with a sense of the unexpected

Tickets

CHF 24.–/17.–* including access to the entire collection.
*Reduced admission

Annual Pass/Membership

Free entry with a membership, plus an invitation to the vernissage in the presence of the artist and many other benefits!

Suzanne Duchamp (1889, Blainville-Crevon – 1963, Neuilly-sur-Seine) moved at the intersection of painting and wordplay with her art. Her works oscillate between abstraction and figuration, often accompanied by enigmatic titles that evoke new associations. Her friend Katherine S. Dreier described her as a ‘semi-abstract painter’ – an apt characterisation for a body of work that defies art-historical conventions. As part of the Parisian avant-garde, Duchamp explored Cubist fragments of urban landscapes and interiors in her early works before turning to Dadaism. Her pieces merge painting with poetry and experiment with various media and materials. While her painting evolved increasingly towards abstraction in the 1910s, she always maintained visual reference points. In 1922, for reasons unknown, she made an unexpected break with Dada and shifted towards figurative painting, often infused with ironic undertones.

Duchamp_Suzanne_Ariette-d-oubli — Suzanne Duchamp, Arietta of Oblivion of the Dazed Chapel, 1920, Philadelphia Museum of Art: Purchased with the Henry P. McIlhenny fund, W. P. Wilstach Fund, George W. Elkins Fund, and Edward and Althea Budd Fund © Suzanne Duchamp / 2025, ProLitteris, Zurich

Duchamp_Suzanne_La_Noce — Suzanne Duchamp, The Wedding, 1924, Private collection © Suzanne Duchamp / 2025, ProLitteris, Zurich Photo: Gina Folly

Duchamp_Suzanne_Usine-de-mes-penseees — Suzanne Duchamp, Factory of My Thoughts, 1920, Gouache, Courtesy Galerie Natalie Seroussi © Suzanne Duchamp / 2025, ProLitteris, Zurich Images

Duchamp_Suzanne_Construction — Suzanne Duchamp, Construction, 1913, Private collection © Suzanne Duchamp / 2025, ProLitteris, Zurich

Duchamp_Suzanne_Chien_RMN — Suzanne Duchamp, Young Girl with Dog, 1912, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI; En dépôt depuis 2013: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen © Suzanne Duchamp / 2025, ProLitteris, Zurich Photo: Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. Grand-PalaisRMN / Bertrand Prévost

Duchamp_Suzanne_Intimite — Suzanne Duchamp, Intimité, 1911, Private collection © Suzanne Duchamp / 2025, ProLitteris, Zurich Photo: Joseph Painter

The world’s first retrospective

For the first time, the work of Suzanne Duchamp is being presented in a comprehensive retrospective that showcases the full breadth of her artistic output. This includes her Dada works alongside earlier and later creative phases. Thanks to new research, numerous previously unknown or long-overlooked pieces have been rediscovered and are now being presented to the public on this scale for the first time.

« Though in its time, Dada was considered a ‘joke’, it was in fact a salutary adventure for artists since it allowed them to breathe freely. » — Suzanne Duchamp, Tribune de Lausanne, 3.31.1957

With around 50 paintings, 20 works on paper, as well as rare archival materials and vintage photographs, the exhibition presents a wide-ranging overview of Duchamp’s oeuvre. Highlights include rare loans from international museums and private collections, among them the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The retrospective was conceived by guest curator Talia Kwartler in collaboration with Kunsthaus curator Cathérine Hug. It has been realised in close cooperation with the Association Duchamp Villon Crotti and the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt am Main, where it is being presented under the curatorship of Ingrid Pfeiffer.

The exhibition is supported by UNIQA Kunstversicherung Schweiz and Albers & Co AG.

Programme

Sat 6.9. 11:00-12:00

Guided Tour

Suzanne Duchamp. Retrospektive

Der ideale Einstieg in die Ausstellung

Free Places: 19

Guided Tour

To the programme

Exhibition location

On the ground floor of the Moser Building – see the interactive visitor guide!

To the Visitorguide

Group Visits

For organisational reasons, we kindly ask groups, school classes, and external guided tours to register in advance.

info@kunsthaus.ch
+41 44 253 84 84

Katalog-Duchamp-Kunsthaus-Zürich — Photo © Franca Candrian, Kunsthaus Zürich

Exhibition publication

Published to accompany the exhibition, the first comprehensive monograph on Suzanne Duchamp is now available in German and English – richly illustrated and offering diverse perspectives on her work. In addition to a detailed biography by editor Talia Kwartler, the volume includes contributions by art historians such as Carole Boulbès, Cathérine Hug (our curator), and Effie Rentzou. The publication is further enriched by artistic reflections, including an interview with Jean-Jacques Lebel, a visual contribution by Amy Sillman, and a closing text by French bestselling author Anne Berest.