Marcel Broodthaers (January 28, 1924 – January 28, 1976) was a Belgian poet, filmmaker and artist with a highly literate and often witty approach to creating art works.

He was born in Brussels, Belgium, where he was associated with the Groupe Surréaliste-revolutionnaire from 1945 and dabbled in journalism, film, and poetry. After spending 20 years in poverty as a struggling poet,[1] he performed the symbolic act of embedding fifty unsold copies of his book of poems Pense-Bête in plaster, creating his first art object. That same year, 1964, for his first exhibition, he wrote a famous preface for the exhibition catalogue;

"I, too, wondered whether I could not sell something and succeed in life. For some time I had been no good at anything. I am forty years old... Finally the idea of inventing something insincere finally crossed my mind and I set to work straightaway. At the end of three months I showed what I had produced to Philippe Edouard Toussaint, the owner of the Galerie St Laurent. 'But it is art' he said 'and I will willingly exhibit all of it.' 'Agreed' I replied. If I sell something, he takes 30%. It seems these are the usual conditions, some galleries take 75%. What is it? In fact it is objects." Broodthaers, 1964[2]

He worked principally with assemblies of found objects and collage, often containing written texts. His most noted work was an installation which began in his Brussels house which he called Musée d'Art Moderne, Départment des Aigles (1968). This installation was followed by a further eleven manifestations of the 'museum', including at the Düsseldorf Kunsthalle for an exhibition in 1970 and at documenta 5 in Kassel in 1972. For such works he is associated with the late 20th century global spread of both installation art, as well as "institutional critique," in which interrelationships between artworks, the artist, and the museum are a focus.

Broodthaers died in Cologne, Germany on his 52nd birthday. He's buried at Ixelles Cemetery in Brussels under a tombstone of his own design.

Notes and references

1. ^ Oxford Art Online; Essay on Broodthaers by Michael Compton
2. ^ quoted in Marcel Broodthaers, Tate Gallery, 1980 p13

External links

* http://www.michaelwerner.com
* http://www.mk-g.org/index.php?id=364 Marcel Broodthaers events at Milton Keynes Gallery (UK) February 2008 supported by the Open University http://www.open.ac.uk
* http://www.mk-g.org/index.php?sectionmenu=2 Marcel Broodthaers exhibition at Milton Keynes Gallery (UK) 26 January - 30 March 2008.
* Haidu, Rachel, "On Décor: a Conquest by Marcel Broodthaers," ArtForum, Summer, 2007.
* MARCEL BROODTHAERS, The Living Mirror Valery Oişteanu writes about Broodthaers for The Brooklyn Rail, published in October 2010