forms. He made notes, sketches and painted studies, and even drew some of his ideas on the wall of his apartment.
In his studio he mounted a bicycle wheel upside down onto a stool, spinning it occasionally just to watch it. Later he denied that its creation was purposeful, though it has come to be known as the first of his “Readymades”. “I enjoyed looking at it”, he said. “Just as I enjoy looking at the flames dancing in the fireplace.”
Meanwhile, Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2 scandalized Americans at the Armory Show, and the sale of all four of his paintings in the show financed his trip to America in 1915.
After World War I was declared in 1914, with his brothers and many friends in military service and himself exempted, Duchamp felt uncomfortable in Paris. He decided to emigrate to the then-neutral United States. To his surprise, he