The Reading Group of the Broodthaers Society of America will meet to discuss Benjamin H. D. Buchloh’s essay, “First and Last: Two Books by Marcel Broodthaers,” that appears in the new MoMA catalogue.

Buchloh, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University, has been a lifelong supporter and scholar on the work of Marcel Broodthaers. Buchloh first included his work in two issues of Interfunctionen, Buchloh’s self-published magazine from the early 1970s devoted to artworks conceived specifically for the printed page. Broodthaers’ contribution to Interfunctionen 11 doubled as an artist’s book titled La Séance. Racisme Végétal. Buchloh also edited the 1987 issue of October dedicated to Broodthaers that played a pivotal role in raising awareness and critical appreciation for the artist’s work in the United States.

Buchloh’s new essay focuses on Pense Bête and The Conquest of Space, Atlas for the Use of Artists and the Military, the poetry volume and incunable. respectively, that bookended Broodthaers’ visual art career.

MoMA has produced a new facsimile of the Atlas in a standard and deluxe edition, as was the original. The Broodthaers Society has examples of both, as well as an important copy of Pense Bête, previously owned by Buchloh, that has been annotated by Broodthaers himself. As part of the reading group, all three volumes will be on hand for examination. They are also available for viewing by appointment at member@broodthaers.us

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