Lot Essay
In 1963 the poet Marcel Broodthaers questioned himself about his future: "Souvent je méditais dans les expositions d'art...
Au bout d'une dizaine d'années dans cette situation confortable, je me transformais en amateur enfin .... Je pris alors conscience de la formation artistique que j'avais subie durant mes stations prolongées devant tableaux et sculptures.... Comme je ne pouvais édifier de collection faute d'un minimum de moyens financiers, il ne me restait plus qu'à traiter autrement de cette mauvaise foi ou je puisais tant d'émotions fortes. Je serai donc, créateur me dis-je. Créateur, plutôt qu'artiste, ce titre convient mieux pour la définition car il inclut cette merveilleuse indifférence. (Marcel Broodthaers, Phantomas, Brussels, nos 51-61, December 1965, p. 295)
As an artist Broodthaers was confronting Pop Art and Nouveau Réalisme till 1967, both of which made use of common commercial products. The objects he chose to incorporate into his works were related to the essential necessities of everyday life. Simple food such as eggs and mussels were associated in a very obvious and natural way with household objects such as cooking pots, serving dishes, tables and chairs. However these objects were presented to the public as art: using all kind of canvas shapes, oil painting, plaster and stands which are part of the art field, Broodthaers created things looking as paintings and sculptures. "Papa", which was probably executed at the end of 1963, stands as a very exhaustive example for this period. A fried egg painted on a mirror in association with eggshells on a chair refers to natural feelings as hunger, to the necessity of feeding his family. On the other hand his objects are not only related to normal human use - they are also poetic metaphors. The mirror inscribed with the words "Papa, de l'eau chaude, du savon, de la barbe" identifies the artist with the father figure which he became in 1962 with the birth of his daughter Marie Puck. Throughout his work, the poet Broodthaers remains the manipulator of the artist giving significance to his work.
Au bout d'une dizaine d'années dans cette situation confortable, je me transformais en amateur enfin .... Je pris alors conscience de la formation artistique que j'avais subie durant mes stations prolongées devant tableaux et sculptures.... Comme je ne pouvais édifier de collection faute d'un minimum de moyens financiers, il ne me restait plus qu'à traiter autrement de cette mauvaise foi ou je puisais tant d'émotions fortes. Je serai donc, créateur me dis-je. Créateur, plutôt qu'artiste, ce titre convient mieux pour la définition car il inclut cette merveilleuse indifférence. (Marcel Broodthaers, Phantomas, Brussels, nos 51-61, December 1965, p. 295)
As an artist Broodthaers was confronting Pop Art and Nouveau Réalisme till 1967, both of which made use of common commercial products. The objects he chose to incorporate into his works were related to the essential necessities of everyday life. Simple food such as eggs and mussels were associated in a very obvious and natural way with household objects such as cooking pots, serving dishes, tables and chairs. However these objects were presented to the public as art: using all kind of canvas shapes, oil painting, plaster and stands which are part of the art field, Broodthaers created things looking as paintings and sculptures. "Papa", which was probably executed at the end of 1963, stands as a very exhaustive example for this period. A fried egg painted on a mirror in association with eggshells on a chair refers to natural feelings as hunger, to the necessity of feeding his family. On the other hand his objects are not only related to normal human use - they are also poetic metaphors. The mirror inscribed with the words "Papa, de l'eau chaude, du savon, de la barbe" identifies the artist with the father figure which he became in 1962 with the birth of his daughter Marie Puck. Throughout his work, the poet Broodthaers remains the manipulator of the artist giving significance to his work.