Bottle Rack

Duchamp labeled the piece a "readymade", a term he used to describe his collection of ordinary, manufactured objects[1] not commonly associated with art.

The readymades did not have the serious tone of European Dada works, which criticized the violence of World War I, and instead focused on a more nonsensical nature, chosen purely on the basis of a "visual indifference".

[2] The original piece was mistaken as rubbish due to its appearance; it was thrown out by Duchamp's sister and stepsister after the artist left France in 1914 for the US.

While Duchamp asserted that his readymades were done without any specific reason, art critics contend that the piece has sexual undertones of a Freudian nature.

Critics suggest that the metal spikes represent the male genitalia, and that the absence of bottles is a reference to Duchamp being a bachelor at the time, a theme they claim is repeatedly conveyed throughout his works.