Musée d’Art Moderne 11 (André Cadere)

Conceptually, this work draws inspiration from a black-and-white photograph by Bernard Marcelis, in which the artist André Cadere is shown holding his piece titled «Barre de bois cubique», while in the background stands Marcel Broodthaers’s «Miroir d’époque Régence». This photograph was taken during the «Informations» exhibition, curated by Harald Szeemann and held from February 22 to April 28, 1974, at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, which brought together works by Cadere, Broodthaers, Robert Ryman, and Dan van Severen.

Formally, the painting draws from Giorgio De Chirico’s «The Disquieting Muses» (1916–1919), particularly for its chromatic restraint and metaphysical atmosphere. It also weaves in fragments from Broodthaers’s works, such as the comma forms from «Cinéma Modèle», and one of the eagle heads from «Chez votre fournisseur (Le Vinaigre des Aigles)», combining them into a subtle commentary on the constructed nature of artistic meaning and the complexities of exhibition spaces.

This piece belongs to «The Paintings Section From Davis Museum Barcelona», one of several sections of the Davis Museum, a contemporary museological project that navigates the interplay between physical and digital realms, circulating primarily through social media. The Davis Museum aligns itself with a lineage of artists who created their own museums: Marcel Duchamp («Boîte-en-valise», 1936–1941), Robert Filliou («La Galerie légitime», 1962–1963), and Marcel Broodthaers («Musée d’Art Moderne, Département des Aigles», 1968–1972).

«Musée d’Art Moderne 11 (André Cadere)» was selected as the cover image for «Grimus», a novel by Salman Rushdie, published by Éditions Gallimard in Paris, France.