Marcel Duchamp created his Mona Lisa parody in 1919. Known as L.H.O.O.Q., the work consists of a cheap postcard reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's painting altered with a pencil-drawn mustache and goatee.
The date places the artwork in the period when Duchamp was closely associated with Dada, an avant-garde movement that challenged conventional definitions of art. Rather than producing a traditional painting, he transformed a familiar commercial image and presented the altered object as an artwork. The gesture questioned why an original masterpiece should receive reverence while a reproduction could be radically reinterpreted.
The title adds another layer of provocation. Reading the letters aloud in French produces a phrase with a deliberately vulgar sexual implication. Duchamp later offered a looser English explanation, “there is fire down below,” but the pun remains central to the work's reputation.
The year is sometimes confused with dates attached to later replicas, publications, or related Duchamp works. Multiple versions of L.H.O.O.Q. exist, including later reproductions and variations, but 1919 identifies the original conception and creation of the famous mustached parody.