How did Marcel Duchamp challenge traditional ideas about art with his readymades?

Marcel Duchamp challenged traditional artistic conventions by introducing the ready-made—an everyday, mass-produced object selected and designated as art. By elevating commonplace items, such as a bicycle wheel or a porcelain urinal, to the status of art, Duchamp sought to dismantle the long-held belief in the uniqueness of the art object and the necessity of manual craftsmanship.12

His approach fundamentally shifted the definition of art from a material process to an intellectual one. By asserting that the artist’s mental choice and conceptual intent were more significant than the final physical product, Duchamp effectively rejected "retinal art"—work intended solely to please the eye—in favor of an aggressive intellectualism.12

These works served as a protest against the excessive importance placed on traditional art and the art establishment. This radical departure from aesthetic values influenced numerous 20th-century movements, including Dada, Pop art, and conceptual art, by establishing that the act of creation could be a mixture of artistic production and critical commentary.132