Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp was born in Blainville France, in 1887. As a child he was most interested in math, but at the age of 14 he learned to draw from a teacher. Which then began his art interest and career. He initially produced his paintings in the mode of Fauvism, since that was popular back then. But then he later turned to Dadaism, cubism and surrealism. He was known to switch techniques, and he used whatever suited him at the time.
The painting that he is most known for is Nude Descending Staircase. It is painted in the cubist form, and depicts a human figure descending a staircase. Duchamp also began experimenting with new and different types of media in his time; like sculpture, and even kinetic art. Some of his work was known to be very controversial, but it had a very strong impact in the development of 20th century art. Duchamp died in Paris, in 1968.