Marcel Broodthaers
Over the course of 12 extraordinary years, Marcel Broodthaers developed a distinctive body of work characterized by irreverence, wit, introspection, and skepticism. Born in 1924 in Brussels, Broodthaers worked primarily as a poet until the age of 40. In 1964, he announced his entry into the visual arts by transforming the unsold copies of his last volume of poetry, Pense-Bête (Memory aid) (1964), into a sculpture for his first solo exhibition. Built on motifs that he had first used in poetic verse, his early artworks, such as Armoire blanche et table blanche (White Cabinet and White Table) (1965), did not represent his turn away from poetry but rather his effort to give it material form.
In 1968, Broodthaers announced that he was no longer an artist and appointed himself director of his own museum, which he called the Musée d’Art Moderne, Département des Aigles (Museum of Modern Art, Department of Eagles). Conceived in the midst of the 1968 student protests, his project provided a richly layered commentary on the role of art and the function of the museum in society. With the help of industrial craftspeople, he made thin, vacuum-formed plastic signs, such as Le Drapeau noir, tirage illimité (The Black Flag, Unlimited Edition) (1968), whose text and imagery—including the black flag of the student protest movement, references to René Magritte and Marcel Duchamp, and the eagle motif that became the emblem of his museum—provided a snapshot of his concerns at this moment.
In the final years of his life, until his untimely death in 1976, Broodthaers organized immersive large-scale displays in which examples of his past works were shown with new works and borrowed objects. Devising updated presentations for works made throughout his career, he subverted the traditional chronology of a museum retrospective and demonstrated how objects can take on various meanings in different display contexts. During his short yet prolific period as an artist, he radically rethought conventional approaches to poetry, film, books, and exhibition practice itself, proving enormously influential to future generations of artists.
Introduction by Francesca Wilmott, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Drawings and Prints, 2016
- Introduction
- Marcel Broodthaers (28 January 1924 – 28 January 1976) was a Belgian poet, filmmaker, and visual artist with a highly literate and often witty approach to creating art works.
- Wikidata
- Q834926
- Introduction
- Belgian artist.
- Nationality
- Belgian
- Gender
- Male
- Roles
- Artist, Author, Poet, Installation Artist, Painter, Sculptor
- Name
- Marcel Broodthaers
- Ulan
- 500004693
Exhibitions
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416: The Art of the Multiple
Through spring 2021
MoMA
Collection gallery
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Marcel Broodthaers: A Retrospective
Feb 14–May 15, 2016
MoMA
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A Trip from Here to There
Mar 15–Jul 30, 2013
MoMA
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Painting and Sculpture Changes 2013
Jan 1–Dec 31, 2013
MoMA
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New to the Print Collection: Matisse to Bourgeois
Jun 13, 2012–Jan 7, 2013
MoMA
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Marcel Broodthaers has
34 exhibitionsonline.
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Marcel Broodthaers Louis Bourgoignie d'écriture (Louis Bourgoignie on writing) 1954
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Marcel Broodthaers "Adieu, Police!" published in Phantômas, no. 2 April 1954
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Marcel Broodthaers "Le Roi midi" published in Phantômas, no. 3 September 1954
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Marcel Broodthaers, Serge Vandercam Mon livre d'ogre (My ogre book) 1957
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Marcel Broodthaers, Serge Vandercam Minuit (Midnight) 1960
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Marcel Broodthaers, Jan Sanders La Bête noire (The black beast) 1961
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Marcel Broodthaers Pense-Bête (Memory aid) 1964
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Marcel Broodthaers Invitation to Moi aussi, je me suis demandé si je ne pouvais pas vendre quelque chose et réussir dans la vie..., Galerie Saint Laurent, April 10–25, 1964 1964
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Marcel Broodthaers Le Problème noir en Belgique (The Black Problem in Belgium) 1963–64
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Marcel Broodthaers White Cabinet and White Table 1965
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Marcel Broodthaers Mouth in a Preserve Jar 1965
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Marcel Broodthaers Fries 1966
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Marcel Broodthaers Maria 1966
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Marcel Broodthaers Eye in a Plastic Container, [Œil dans une boîte en plastique] 1966
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Marcel Broodthaers Four Eggs 1966
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Marcel Broodthaers On the Art of Writing. On the Writing of Art 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Pot of Mussels 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers The Belgian Lion June 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Panel of Mussels 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Truly 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Academy I (Académie I) 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Academy II (Académie II) 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers At your supplier (Vinegar of Eagles) (Chez votre fournisseur [Le Vinaigre des Aigles]) 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers At your supplier (Vinegar of Eagles) (Chez votre fournisseur [Le Vinaigre des Aigles]) 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Department of Eagles (David - Ingres - Wiertz - Courbet) (Département des Aigles [David - Ingres - Wiertz - Courbet]) 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Department of Eagles (David–Ingres–Wiertz–Courbet) (Département des Aigles [David–Ingres–Wiertz–Courbet]) 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers The Black Flag, Unlimited Edition (Le Drapeau noir, tirage illimité) 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Multiplied Unlimited (Multiplié illimité) 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Street René Magritte Street (Rue René Magritte Straat) 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Telephone (Téléphone) 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Telephone (Téléphone) 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Le Corbeau et le Renard (The crow and the fox) 1967–1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Untitled (Cartes postales concernant la peinture du XIX siècle) [Postcards of nineteenth-century paintings] 1968
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Marcel Broodthaers Un coup de dés jamais n'abolira le hasard (A throw of the dice will never abolish chance) 1969
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Marcel Broodthaers Un coup de dés jamais n'abolira le hasard (A throw of the dice will never abolish chance) 1969
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Marcel Broodthaers Untitled 1969
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Marcel Broodthaers Campbell's Soup 1969
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Marcel Broodthaers Cone 1969
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Marcel Broodthaers The Signature. 1st Series. Unlimited Edition. (La Signature. Série 1. Tirage illimité.) 1969
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Marcel Broodthaers The Goose, the Wing (L'Oie, l'aile) 1969
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Marcel Broodthaers The Goose, the Wing (L'Oie, l'aile) 1969
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Marcel Broodthaers Model: The Pipe (Modèle: La Pipe) 1969
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Marcel Broodthaers Model: The Pipe (Modèle: La Pipe) 1969
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Marcel Broodthaers Museum of Modern Art. The Eagles. 19th-Century Section (Musée d'Art Moderne. Les Aigles. Section XIXe siècle) 1969
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Marcel Broodthaers Museum. Children not admitted (Museum. Enfants non admis) 1968-69
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Marcel Broodthaers Museum. Children not admitted (Museum. Enfants non admis) 1968–69
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Marcel Broodthaers Door A (Porte A) 1969
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Marcel Broodthaers Door A (Porte A) 1969
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