La collection qui n’existait pas

It all started in 1966 when Belgian radiologist Herman Daled became friends with poet-artist Marcel Broodthaers. Daled and his wife Nicole purchased work from him and met other artists in his network. This led to a valuable collection of conceptual art developing unintentionally and organically. Daled was venturing into the unknown; after all, he wasn’t buying physical artworks, but mainly ideas, sometimes jotted down on the spot on a scrap of paper.

Daled sold his collection, which contained works by Broodthaers, Daniel Buren, Lawrence Weiner and On Kawara, to the MoMa in New York in 2011. La collection qui n’existait pas is a documentary about a somewhat mysterious collector who doesn’t consider himself one and remains emphatically modest about his role. Daled says he was simply in the right
place, at the right time. The film, produced by Marion Hänsel, not only provides insight into his far-from-normal life, but is also an homage to a radical, still relevant, art movement.

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