In 1923, after abandoning The Large Glass, Marcel Duchamp let it be known that he had stopped making art in order to devote himself to his favorite pastime, chess. Thus the news, after Duchamp's death in 1968, that he had actually spent the last two decades of his life working secretly on an elaborate, final project was greeted with universal surprise. Accompanied only by a carefully compiled installation manual, the content of the piece remained mysterious while its bold realism shocked both Duchamp's champions as well as his detractors. In accordance with the artist's final wishes, the piece was acquired by the Cassandra Foundation and offered to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where it took its place nearby the artist's other major works in 1969.