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How did Marcel Duchamp support himself while living in New York City?
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Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp.
When Marcel Duchamp arrived in New York City in 1915, he was welcomed into intellectual circles and provided with a studio by the collector Walter Arensberg. Despite receiving numerous offers from art galleries to represent his work, Duchamp declined them because he did not wish to pursue a full-time career as a painter.1
To support himself financially while living in New York, Duchamp gave French lessons. Throughout his life, he remained an artist who was content to distribute his works among friends or sell them for intentionally small amounts rather than seeking commercial success.1