Born in Brussels, Belgium, 1924
Died in Cologne, Germany, 1976

Marcel Broodthaers' career as a visual artist began in 1964 after two decades working as a published poet, collector and dealer of rare books. From the age of 40 until his death in 1976, he was the subject of seventy solo exhibitions, flexibly moving across media ranging from installations, sculptures and objects to artist’s books, prints, films and writings. However, Broodthaers never truly left poetry so much as to expand its field, incessantly exploring the complex relationships between images, words, and the objects that they represent. From 1968 to 1972, he operated the Musée d’Arte Moderne, Département des Aigles, (Museum of Modern Art, Department of Eagles). The museum was dedicated not to his work as an artist but rather to the role of the institution itself and the function of art in society.