Art Talk: Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp: The Alchemist of the Avant-Garde
Presenter: Janet Mandel
Tuesday, February 17th, 2026, 7:00-8:15 PM, via Zoom
Registration required: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/GbNa2McoSbG2BVF5xJaf_g

Open the dictionary to the word “iconoclast,” and you will see a picture of Marcel Duchamp. He challenged the standards and beliefs of the art world and ushered in a new era of creative license—the reverberations of which are still felt in contemporary art today. Duchamp’s imagination was aroused by elements of Cubism, Surrealism, and even Pop Art, but his resourcefulness meant continuous self-reinvention and deliberate inconsistency. He once said, “I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste.” Come and learn about his innovative works and the shockwaves they produced. A blockbuster Duchamp retrospective opens at the Museum of Modern Art on April 12, 2026.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Pennington Public Library and the Hopewell Valley Arts Council.

About Our Presenter: Janet Mandel taught in New Jersey’s public schools for 32 years, the last eighteen of which were at Columbia High School in Maplewood, where she taught English, art history, and World Languages and Cultures. Now retired, Janet presents illustrated talks on a variety of art history topics at adult schools, libraries, museums, senior centers, community centers, and similar venues.