New

Marcel Broodthaers
An ensemble of 13 'lettres ouvertes.'

1. 'A mes amis, Calme et silence.' Bruxelles, Palais des Beaux-Arts, 7 June 1968.

2. 'Une cube, une sphère' Kassel, 27 June 1968.

3. 'Mon cher Beuys' Bruxelles, 14 July 1968.

4. 'J'ai d'abord mis en scène ...' Lignano, 27 August 1968.

5. 'Cabinet des Ministres de la Culture. Ouverture' Ostende, 7 September 1968.

6. 'Département des Aigles. Museum. Un directeur rectangle.' Düsseldorf, 19 September 1968.

7. 'J'ai trop à vous dire, chers amis, ...' Anvers, 11 October 1968.

8. 'Duchamp-Mexico, octobre 68. Multiplié inimitable illimité MB' Librairie St Germain des Prés, Paris, 29 October 1968.

9. 'Chers Amis, Mes caisses sont vides.' Paris, 29 November 1968.

10. 'Chers amis, De Bruxelles à Anvers' Antwerpen, 10 May 1969.

11. 'Museum voor Moderne Kunsten. Département des Aigles. Mon cher Immendorf' Antwerpen, 29 September 1969.

12. 'Museum voor Moderne Kunsten. Département des Aigles. Remettre à Immendorf, la caisse ' (Antwerpen, September 1969.)

13. 'Musée d'Art Moderne. Section littéraire. Département des Aigles. Mon cher Claura' Bruxelles, 1 January 1970.

All open letters 4to, except No. 8 8vo; all open letters mimeographed, except Nos.8 and 13 offset. - Contained in a folder that reproduces the autograph manuscript of the first open letter, and its typed version, with the sentence 'J'aimerais contrôler le sens de la culture.' annotated by Marcel Broodthaers: 'à la place de I.F. (mon éditeur provisoire.) M.B. 14 juillet 1968.' - This note seems to suggest that the omnipresent collector-patron-impresario Isi Fiszman was the actual publisher of the 'open letters.'

Exceptional ensemble of the open letters that Marcel Broodthaers published in a small edition and sent to members of the art-world, mostly commenting on the social context of art in his time. The ironical and ambiguous use of a confidential tone in these pamphlets of a one-man movement, the use of an 'old-fashioned' instrument such as an open letter in a world so fond of 'new media', are typical of Broodthaers' critical interventions in the often self-sufficient art scene.