Marcel Broodthaers

[3] He performed the symbolic act of embedding fifty unsold copies of his book of poems Pense-Bête in plaster, creating his first art object.

He incorporated written language in his art and used whatever was at hand for his raw materials—most notably the shells of eggs and mussels, but also furniture, clothing, garden tools, household gadgets and reproductions of artworks.

As part of the Financial Section, the artist also produced an unlimited edition of gold ingots stamped with the museum's emblem, an eagle, a symbol associated with power and victory.

The ingots were sold to raise money for the museum, at a price calculated by doubling the market value of gold, the surcharge representing the bar's value as art.

The venues of these exhibitions were Wide White Space in Antwerp, Catalogue-Catalogus at Palais de Beaux-Arts Brussels, and Eloge du sujet at Kunstmuseum Basel.

"[5][13] For such works he is associated with the late 20th century global spread of both installation art as well as "institutional critique," in which interrelationships between artworks, the artist, and the museum are a focus.

[18] As a poet and political activist, Broodthaers had a life-long interest in the circulatory power of printed matter: posters, graphics, editions, and artist books.

In addition to the prospect of commercial galleries selling limited editions, the artist's books Broodthaers published with institutions like Kunstalle Düsseldorf, the Deutsche Academischer Austaudienst (DAAD), Berlin, the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, merged his profit ambitions with his nonprofit conceptual and philosophical ideas.

[19] For example, Broodthaers' catalogue for Der Adler von Oligizän bis heute, the seminal culmination of his Musee d'Art Moderne, department des Aigles, at Kunstalle Düsseldorf in 1972, was published in two volumes.

[22] Notable recent group shows include The Artist as Poet: Selections from Pamm's Collection, in 2021-2022, at Pérez Art Museum Miami.