Marcel Broodthaers

Book excerpt: Marcel Broodthaers's (Belgian, 1924-1976) extraordinary output across mediums placed him at the center of international activity during the transformative decades of the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout his career, from early objects variously made of mussels, eggshells, and books of his own poetry; to his most ambitious project, the Musée d'Art Moderne. Département des Aigles; and the Décors made at the end of his life, Broodthaers occupied a unique position, often operating as both innovator and commentator. Setting a precedent for what we call installation art today, his work has had a profound influence on a broad range of contemporary artists, and he remains vitally relevant to cultural discourse at large. Published to accompany the artist's first museum retrospective in New York, Marcel Broodthaers examines the artist's work across all mediums. Essays by the exhibition organizers Christophe Cherix and Manuel Borja-Villel, along with a host of major scholars, including Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Jean François Chevrier, Thierry de Duve, and Doris Krystof provide historical and theoretical context for the artist's work. The book also features new translations of many of Broodthaers's texts.