ABOVE: Detail from Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain (1964), which was attacked by a neo-dadaist last Wednesday.

We can see it now: ten years hence, the MoMA will do a group retrospective, looking back over the work of artists who make their statements by destroying or vandalizing the work of their predecessors (or perhaps they just can’t help it). And the rogues’ gallery of artists profiled in the New York Times last Saturday will comprise its bulk: the ones who painted clown faces on Goya prints, the one who vomits paint on old masters, the ones who relieved themselves in another version of Duchamp’s Fountain. It would actually be quite the show, although it presents some unique curatorial hurdles. Nevertheless, when it happens, we expect a fat slice of that MoMA $20 entry fee. Just want to make that clear now.

Pierre Pinoncelli, a French performance artist, struck the Duchamp masterpiece with a small hammer. This is in fact the second time he has taken a hammer to it: the first time was in 1993, but that time he managed to pee in it as well. The piece, which is one of eight replicas that Duchamp made in 1964, after the original was lost, will be repaired and live to fight Mr. Pinoncelli another day, officials said.

LINK: New York Times > Conceptual Artist as Vandal: Walk Tall and Carry a Little Hammer (or Ax)