A work by Marcel Duchamp returns to the Monte-Carlo Casino

On paper, the century-old sheet of paper served as collateral for a financial loan to gamble at the Casino. During the winter of 1924/1925, Marcel Duchamp diverted it, personalized it with his image, and turned it into a work: The Obligation for the Roulette of Monte-Carlo, which has since been preserved in the collections of the Prince's Palace. To mark this centenary, it is exhibited, until May 8, in the Atrium of the Casino, thanks to the work of the Société des Bains de Mer and the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco to present this unusual work by a major artist of the ^20th century, designer of the ready-made.

"His entire artistic career is based on this idea of ​​taking everyday objects that have no value and turning them into a work, creating something signed by an artist, him or his double, gaining value. Just by signing this bond, which was worth 15,000 francs, he was already creating a more expensive work. Even if he didn't sell that many at the time," explains Benjamin Laugier, curator of this temporary exhibition.

An upcoming performance

Duchamp's enterprise during that Monegasque winter a century ago aimed to raise funds to finance his activity at the Casino and test his winning streak, relying on probabilities calculated as in chess, in gaming halls. "But, as is often the case with Duchamp, the stakes lie elsewhere. They lie in the mechanical idleness of a game devoid of purpose. In short, he plays at playing, not to win, but to avoid losing, in a constant balance between losses and gains, between rationality and passion."

To close the presentation of this work, on May 8, the artist Luciano Chessa will unveil a performance inspired by Duchamp's work . He will compare it to a poem by Louis Notari, Ri Limunairi, in which the Monegasque writer describes the life of lemon growers in the mid- ^19th century. A way of evoking the transition to the time of the Principality, whose lemons were gold in the ^19th century before the advent of the activities of the Société des Bains de Mer.