Tulip Hysteria Co-ordinating

During early 1917, rumor spread that Duchamp was working on a Cubist painting titled Tulip Hysteria Co-ordinating, in preparation for the largest exhibition of modern art ever to take place in the United States; the "First Annual Exhibition" of the Society of Independent Artists, due to open 10 April at the Grand Central Palace in New York City.

[2] Instead of submitting the painting Duchamp resigned as a director following the Society's refusal to exhibit Fountain — a readymade in the form of a urinal and signed with the pseudonym "R.

The incident pointed out that the exhibition was not truly open to anyone, and in retaliation Duchamp withdrew Tulip Hysteria Co-ordinating, or never presented it.

[7][8][9] Francis Naumann, historian, curator and dealer specializing in the art of the Dada movement, suggests the creation of a work titled Tulip Hysteria Co-ordinating was a rumor circulated intentionally to mislead the public.

After a long battle that lasted up to the opening hour of the exhibition, Mr. Mutt's defenders were voted down by a small margin.

Weeks earlier, he had promised to present a Cubist painting absurdly titled Tulip Hysteria Co-ordinating.

Though his last painting on canvas is dated 1918—consisting of cast shadows that refer to three “ready-mades”: a bicycle wheel, a corkscrew, and a hat rack[21]—and was a commissioned work for Katherine Sophie Dreier.

[22] Jane Dixon, a journalist whose writing figured mostly on the social and fashion pages[23] wrote a "story about the exhibition" published in The Sun, 22 April 1917, titled An Outsider Explores Two Miles of Independent Art.

[24] Colwell begins the guided tour of the show with a description of a painting, possibly referencing Jean Metzinger's Femme au miroir (not mentioned in the catalogue, but later purchased by John Quinn in 1918:[25] "That: is a picture of a lady combing her hair in front of a mirror."

The guide had no answer, writes Dixon: "That shows how good the artist is at typing up the English language in a knot... his bust belongs in the hall of fame."

These tulips he saw at the flower show were having hysteria in the very worst way, throwing a regular fit in fact... And how about the coordinating?

So hysterical were they that every vestige of resemblance to their former symmetrical selves had been lost and they were merely lurid splotches of color running wild on the canvas."

Marcel Duchamp is mentioned five times in the catalogue: in the list of directors; as a member of the hanging committee; in a list of members; next to his brother Jacques Villon's address to direct correspondence (c/o); and in the title of a painting by Jean Crotti, Portrait of Marcel Duchamp (Crotti's other entry was titled The Clown); but not as an exhibiting artist.

[26] The fact that Duchamp's Cubist Tulips were expected, yet had not been listed in the catalogue (just as Richard Mutt's entry), has led to speculation that Duchamp, from the outset, never intended to submit a painting, and that the missing painting formed part of a larger plot, one that would create a stir surpassing by far the one created by his Nude Descending a Staircase, No.

In the short term Duchamp's plot can be seen as a failure, owing to the practically nonexistent press coverage of his 1917 Independents participation.

Yet in the long term, the success of his endeavor is immeasurable, since the work he actually presented as part of his scheme, Fountain, is now regarded as a major landmark in 20th-century art.