Marcel Duchamp, Fountain (1917; at the Philadelphia Museum of Art)

Fountain is a 1917 work widely attributed to Marcel Duchamp. The scandalous work was a porcelain urinal, which was signed "R.Mutt" and titled Fountain. Submitted for the exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in 1917, Fountain was rejected by the committee, even though the rules stated that all works would be accepted from artists who paid the fee. Fountain was displayed and photographed at Alfred Stieglitz's studio, and the photo published in a magazine, but the original has been lost. The work is regarded by some art historians and theorists of the avant-garde as a major landmark in 20th-century art. 17 replicas commissioned by Duchamp in the 1960s now exist.

Photograph taken by Al Filreis at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, December 2014. Click on the image for a larger view.