Stella met Duchamp, Picabia and Gleizes in New York, and famously accompanied Duchamp when he went to buy the urinal that became the notorious ‘Fountain’. Duchamp and he had previously discussed the idea of a lowly object as a work of art. Ray sat on an exhibition committee with both of them, and photographed them together. Picasso, Matisse, Severini and Boccioni had all been met in Paris. Varèse and Stella – good friends – sailed together from New York to France.