Marcel DuchampFrench, 1887–1968S.M.S. #2 (Deluxe Edition)
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “S.M.S. #2 (Deluxe Edition)” now? Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
The Letter Edged in Black Press produced six issues of a journal called SMS (Shit Must Stop) from February to December 1968. Founded by artists William N. Copley and Dmitri Petrov, the journal was not bound like a traditional magazine but rather took the form of a folder containing individual contributions from more than 70 artists. Each issue of the journal featured items of varying media and formats, including prints, diminutive multimedia works, and sculptures produced in small editions. Employing the postal system as an alternative exhibition format, the series expresses the artists’ desire to share their ideas in novel, frugal, and accessible ways—a playful jab at the restrictive criteria of museums and “high art.”
Read on
The Art Institute’s complete set is one of 100 copies of the deluxe version, in which nearly every contribution is signed by its creator. The issues feature pieces by well-known artists like Marcel Duchamp, Ray Johnson, On Kawara, Yoko Ono, Roy Lichtenstein, and Lil Picard, as well as a multitude of unusual, interactive objects including audio recordings, a booklet about bathrooms in art galleries, a folded hat, luggage stickers, a phenakistoscope with instructions for use, and poetry. An unreleased special seventh edition was in the works, with an intended contribution from Dorothy Iannone, now also part of the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection.
SMS (Shit Must Stop) , no. 2, 1968
Cover designed by Marcel Duchamp (American, born France, 1887–1968) with instructions “Remove To Play”
Nicolas Calas (American, born Switzerland, 1907–1988), Cynocephaeus & Co.
Bruce Conner (American, 1933–2008), Legal Tender
Marcia Herscovitz (American, 1945–1976), Ten Collages
Alain Jacquet (French, b. 1939), Three Color Separation
Ray Johnson (American, 1927–1995), A 2-Year Old Girl Choked to Death Today on an Easter Egg
Lee Lozano (American, 1930–1999), Thesis (1960)
Meret Oppenheim (Swiss, born Germany, 1902–1985), The Mirror of Genoveva
Bernard Pfriem (American, b. 1916), A Proposed Comic Section for The New York Times
George Reavey (Irish, born Russia, 1907–1976), Farewell to Faust
Clovis Trouille (French, 1889–1975), Album
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 2018.545.2
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
In the life of Marcel Duchamp
The whole life1966
Retrospective at the Tate Gallery
The artist and collaborator Richard Hamilton organised a retrospective of Duchamp’s work at the Tate Gallery in London.
1967
“Les Duchamp” in Rouen
As the last surviving member of the family of artists, he helped organise in Rouen the exhibition “Les Duchamp: Jacques Villon, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Marcel Duchamp, Suzanne Duchamp”.
1968
A chess game with John Cage
At the concert “Reunion” he played a game of chess with the composer John Cage: photoelectric cells under the board, triggered as the game went on, produced music.
2 October 1968
The last evening: dinner with Man Ray and Robert Lebel
He died suddenly and peacefully in the early morning at his home in Neuilly-sur-Seine: after dining with his friends Man Ray and Robert Lebel he retired at 1:05 a.m., collapsed in his studio and died of heart failure. His grave in Rouen bears the epitaph “Besides, it is always the others who die”.
2 October 1968
Died
