DUCHAMP MARCEL: (1887-1968) French painter and sculptor. A good A.L.S., Marcel, one page, 4to, New York City, 27th May 1951, to Isabelle Waldberg, in French. Duchamp states ?Je re?ois d?Helen Hessel une lettre dans laquelle elle me dit que vous faites des projets....et envisagez la possibilit? d?abandonner Larrey - Elle me demande donc de vous succ?der? (Translation: ?I have received a letter from Helen Hessel in which she tells me that you are making plans? and are considering the possibility of giving up Larrey ? she is therefore asking me to take over from you?), although adding ?Mais j?attends d?avoir un mot de vous me disant si vraiment, apr?s tous les frais que vous avez eu cet hiver, vous avez d?cid? de quitter l?atelier? (Translation: ?But I am waiting to hear from you to find out whether, after all the expenses you have incurred this winter, you have indeed decided to leave the studio?) and continuing to explain ?Je ne vois pas d?inconv?nient ? ce que Helen habite l? mais seulement si vous n?en voulez plus. D?un autre c?te je ne suis pas s?r que le propri?taire accepte un changement de sous-locataires apr?s tous les ennuis que vous avez eus, au moins au d?but? (Translation: ?I have no objection to Helen living there, but only if you no longer want to. On the other hand, I?m not sure the landlord would agree to a change of subtenants after all the trouble you?ve had, at least to begin with?). In concluding Duchamp asks Waldberg to let him know her thoughts, and in a postscript makes a reference to Waldberg?s husband, ?Bien re?u l?aide m?moire de Patrick qui semble avoir assez de la tutelle surr?aliste? (Translation: ?I?ve received Patrick?s memo; he seems to have had enough of the surrealist tutelage?). Some very light, minor creasing and age wear to the edges, otherwise VG

Isabelle Waldberg (1911?1990) was a French-Swiss sculptor, one of the few women sculptors closely associated with the Surrealist movement, and the wife of Patrick Waldberg (1913-1985) Franco-American art critic known for his profiles of Surrealist artists.

Helen Grund Hessel (1886?1982) German fashion journalist, writer, translator and artist. Hessel served as the model for the heroine Catherine in Henri-Pierre Roch?'s novel Jules et Jim (1953), later adapted into the celebrated 1962 film by Fran?ois Truffaut, and was the mother of the French diplomat and writer St?phane Hessel.

Duchamp's atelier at 11 rue Larrey has become one of the most celebrated studios in the history of modern art. Occupied by the artist from 1927, it housed his famous Porte de la rue Larrey, a revolving door mounted at the junction of two rooms that functioned simultaneously as both an ordinary domestic fixture and a conceptual artwork, perfectly encapsulating Duchamp's lifelong fascination with the transformation of everyday objects into art.