INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
ON THE RECEPTION OF
POP ART IN BELGIUM
(1960-1970)
1-2 DECEMBER 2011
ROYAL MUSEUMS OF
FINE ARTS OF BELGIUM
Coup de Fil à Pierre Restany
Marcel Broodthaers and Nouveau Réalisme
- Alexander Streiberger
Few months before he entered the art world by setting in plaster the remaining unsold copies of his book of poetry Pense-Bête, Marcel Broodthaers wrote in November 1963 the article Gare au défi! where he linked Pop Art's concern with art and consumerism to the influence of Magritte's works on American artists such as George Segal and Jim Dine. In the following years Broodthaers engaged in an ongoing reflection on Pop Art and Nouveau Réalisme that ended more or less with the exhibition Court Circuit in 1967. For the catalogue, Pierre Restany contributed the text J'attends ton coup de fil, Marcel! to which the artist replied ironically with the work Coup de Fil à Pierre Restany, a telephone wrapped in cotton. Departing from this mute ‘dialogue' between the artist and the critic, the paper will discuss the ambiguous relationship that Broodthaers had with Pop Art and Nouveau Réalisme in relation to major concerns such as the commodity character of art and the concept of the ready-made.