L.H.O.O.Q. and wrote "Moustache par Picabia / barbiche par Marcel Duchamp / avril 1942". As was the case with a number of his readymades, Duchamp made multiple versions of "L.H.O.O.Q." of differing sizes and in different media throughout his career, one of which, an unmodified black and white reproduction of the "Mona Lisa" mounted on card, is called "L.H.O.O.Q. Shaved". The masculinized female introduces the theme of gender reversal, which was popular with Duchamp, who adopted his own female pseudonym, Rrose Sélavy, pronounced "Eros, c'est la vie" ("Eros, that's life"). Primary responses to "L.H.O.O.Q." interpreted its meaning as being an attack
Fountain (Duchamp) on it to avoid connection with the personal. The "Fountain" was simply placed behind a partition and, for the duration of the exhibition, I didn’t know where it was. I couldn't say that I had sent the thing, but I think the organizers knew it through gossip. No one dared mention it. I had a falling out with them, and retired from the organization. After the exhibition, we found the "Fountain" again, behind a partition, and I retrieved it! (Marcel Duchamp, 1971) The New York Dadaists stirred controversy about "Fountain" and its being rejected in the second issue of "The