Who named a urinal "Fountain" and exhibited it in 1917?

Marcel Duchamp named the urinal Fountain and submitted it for exhibition in 1917. The work became one of the defining examples of conceptual and modern art.

Duchamp bought a commercially manufactured porcelain urinal from a plumbing supplier, turned it onto its back, and signed it “R. Mutt 1917.” He submitted it to the Society of Independent Artists’ exhibition in New York, an event that promised to show works submitted by members without a jury. The organizers nevertheless rejected or concealed the piece after a heated dispute.

Fountain was a “readymade”: Duchamp’s term for an ordinary manufactured object selected and presented as art. His argument was that the artist’s choice and idea could matter more than traditional craftsmanship. The original 1917 object disappeared, but authorized replicas were produced later.

A common mix-up is the name on the urinal. “R. Mutt” was the signature, while Marcel Duchamp was the artist who submitted and defended the work. The title is Fountain, not “The Urinal.”