How did World War I affect Marcel Duchamp’s move from France to the United States?

When World War I broke out, Marcel Duchamp was living and working in France in relative isolation. Although he was exempt from military service, the onset of the war prompted him to leave France for the United States.1

Duchamp had previously established connections in America through the Armory Show, which facilitated his transition. Upon arriving in New York in June 1915, he was welcomed by intellectual circles and the collector Walter Arensberg, who provided him with a studio. This move allowed Duchamp to continue his work on The Large Glass and further develop his ready-mades away from the immediate disruptions of the war in Europe.1