Marcel Broodthaers: Un Jardin d’Hiver

Marcel Broodthaers’ ‘Un Jardin d’Hiver’ (A Winter Garden) (1974), is a seminal installation belonging to the artist’s Décors series created in the last years of his life. Hauser and Wirth first staged ‘Un Jardin d’Hiver’ in Zurich in 1998 and this exhibition will once again pay tribute to this artist. A major contributor to the inception of conceptual art as a genre, Broodthaers holds a significant place in the historical narrative of contemporary art. His practice was largely concerned with two issues: the status of art as a commodity, and the impact of the museum on discourses surrounding artistic practice as well as on their reception. ‘Un Jardin d’Hiver’ is a subtle indictment of the authority of cultural institutions. In this work Broodthaers draws a link between Europe’s imperial history and the cultural hierarchies dictated by museums and galleries, thereby framing art as a sphere susceptible to colonisation.

For the Décors series, Broodthaers inhabited the role of sceneographer, creating disquieting theatrical compositions using domestic objects. ‘Un Jardin d’Hiver’ parodies a traditional museum or gallery space modelled on the late 19th-century palm court, once popular in wealthy European homes.