The poet and artist Marcel Broodthaers (1924-76) is widely recognized as a key figure in 20th century art who questioned the nature of art, the role of the artist, the functioning of the museum and of the art market. This book sets out Broodthaers's strategy for artistic success and examines the dialogue into which he entered with his contemporaries and predecessors in 19th century French poetry, Pop and Conceptual Art, including Stéphane Mallarmé, Charles Baudelaire, Marcel Duchamp and René Magritte. It provides a broad overview of his objects, paintings, films, slides, books and installations, and his focus upon relationships, also central to Post-Structuralist and postmodern theories. The visual qualities of his works, combining the material with the poetic, his wit and irony, are examined in relation to his subtle method of questioning and contradicting, defying conventional systems and definitions. The author explores the wider framing contexts in which things are presented and the geographical context via maps, notions of the voyage and a sense of place. Institutional critique, the artist's political position and moral responsibilities in society are discussed by analyzing the responses of Broodthaers, Daniel Buren, Joseph Beuys and Hans Haacke to a series of museum events in the early 1970s. The poet and artist Marcel Broodthaers (1924-76) is widely recognized as a key figure in 20 century art who questioned the nature of art, the role of the artist, the functioning of the museum and of the art market. This book sets out Broodthaers¿s strategy for artistic success and examines the dialogue into which he entered with his contemporaries and predecessors in 19 century French poetry, Pop and Conceptual Art, including Stéphane Mallarmé, Charles Baudelaire, Marcel Duchamp and René Magritte. It provides a broad overview of his objects, paintings, films, slides, books and installations, and his focus upon relationships, also central to Post-Structuralist and postmodern theories. The visual qualities of his works, combining the material with the poetic, his wit and irony, are examined in relation to his subtle method of questioning and contradicting, defying conventional systems and definitions. The author explores the wider framing contexts in which things are presented and the geographical context via maps, notions of the voyage and a sense of place. Institutional critique, the artist¿s political position and moral responsibilities in society are discussed by analyzing the responses of Broodthaers, Daniel Buren, Joseph Beuys and Hans Haacke to a series of museum events in the early 1970s. Plates 9 Acknowledgements 11 Abbreviations 13 Introduction 15 Chapter One Transition: From Poet to Poet/Artist 23 Early Years 23 Volumes of Poetry 29 Reworkings: The MTL Exhibition and Mallarm Throw of the Dice 34 La Clef de l'Horloge 40 Further Visual Fields: Photography and Art Criticism 44 'Gare au d !' Early Interest in Pop 48 The First Objects and Pense-B 52 Chapter Two Textual Evidence: Intention, Insincerity and Commerce 59 'I, too...': Broodthaers Enters the Art World 60 Broodthaers the Collector 65 Broodthaers the Artist Taking His Work Seriously 70 Broodthaers the Museum Director 77 Alas, Bankruptcy The Museum For Sale 82 Exchange Values: Art and Gold 86 Exchange Values: The Signature 91 Guilty Pleasure 96 Chapter Three Broodthaers's Objects in Context: Magritte, Pop and Nouveau R isme 101 'I, too...': Starting to Succeed 103 Becoming a Pop Artist 105 The Belgian Broodthaers and the Notion of a National Pop Art 110 Mussels and Eggshells 112 Pop or not? 121 Nouveau R isme? 124 Materiality and Transcendence: Broodthaers and Manzoni 128 New Realism and Surrealism 131 The Belgian Surrealist Response 134 The Curse of Magritte: Following in Father's Footsteps 136 Puzzles Without Solutions: Le Corbeau et le Renard and Eloge du Sujet 142 Chapter Four The Museum, The D r Presentation and Re-Presentation 151 Looking Back: Early Retrospectives and Reproductions 153 Collections in Miniature 155 Classifying Objects But Are They Art? 165 Art and the Eagle 171 Past, Present, Future: 'The d r is not an end in itself' 177 'Nouveaux trues, nouvelles combines': New Combinations 181 Buren's Notion of the Frame 188 Chapter Five The Conquest of Space: Maps, Mapping and the High Seas 193 Broodthaers and the Voyage 196 Salle Outremer 199 Maps 200 Tales of Adventure Abroad... 204 ...And Adventures Closer To Home A Voyage on the North Sea 205 Travelling Words 211 Message in a Bottle 214 Notions of Space 216 Baudelaire's Travels 222 City Life 227 Broodthaers and Bentham 230 Chapter Six Art and Politics: Broodthaers, Beuys, Buren, Haacke 237 Broodthaers in Context Exhibitions through the 1970's and Critical Reviews 238 Buren at the Guggenheim 243 Haacke at the Guggenheim 245 Broodthaers's Open Letter to Beuys 249 Broodthaers and Beuys Concurrent Events of 1972 256 Magic 263 Projekt '74 266 Documenta 7 270 The Artist and the Object 273 Conclusion 275 Bibliography 281 Index 299