Surrealism in Disavowal: Marcel Broodthaers and the Legacy of Surrealism in Belgium

Abstract: Marcel Broodthaers, a key figure of the postwar avant-garde, maintained a deeply ambivalent relationship with Surrealism. This paper argues that his disavowal of the movement reveals repressed affinity with the specific legacy of Surrealism in Belgium, rather than a straightforward rejection of it. Proposing a post-surrealist lens on his work, Broodthaers's reception of René Magritte and his artistic formation amid the postwar struggle over Surrealism are examined as symptomatic instances of a delicate working-through of the movement. By redressing the relevance of Surrealism to Broodthaers's work, this paper reconsiders the historiographical polarity on this topic within the scholarship on the artist. Far from anecdotal, Broodthaers's engagement with Surrealism emerges as a structural force in his practice, offering new historical and critical insight into both his work and the broader afterlives of Surrealism in the postwar avant-garde.