Marcel Duchamp

Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French American artist, Grandmaster, and inventor who played a key role in the development of the avant-garde in the United States and in New York City, where he spent the last 25 years of his life. Duchamp was one of the top-ranked chess players in the world during his lifetime and would be considered a 2000-2100 player on the modern USCF rating scale.

Duchamp was the first artist to elevate a toilet to the status of an art form. By the time of World War I, he had rejected the work of many of his fellow artists (such as Henri Matisse) as "retinal," intended only to please the eye. Instead, he wanted to use art to serve the mind. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, as one of the three artists who helped to establish the post-industrial perspective in art history, and he is considered the progenitor of Conceptual art.

In 1924, Duchamp was awarded the title of Grand Master by the French Chess Federation after already having made significant contributions to cubism, dada and pop art. Provided by Wikipedia