The Avant-Garde

            From the span of the early 19^th century to the mid 20^th century, the art world experienced a boom in the development of innovative ideas and styles, which came to be known as “avant-garde”. As artists moved away from the academy’s traditional values and characteristic paintings, not only did they create a new era of art, but they mocked the academy in a way, making viewers question their perspectives on the art they had known for years. The avant-garde style has characteristics of its own that make it separate from the academy through reacting to the academy, therefore making it controversial.

            Saint-Simon was the first to use the term (avant-garde) in connection with art. When he applied the term to art in the 1820s, its original meaning was related to art’s emancipatory role in society (how art can be useful to society and how it can lead people to do good). Down the road, variations of the style developed and the meaning eventually became associated with modern art. Gustave Courbet, a French painter who helped lead the Realism movement, said he wanted “to know in order to do,” meaning that one must be familiar with modern life (aided through painting modern life) in order to take action and help improve society.

The avant-garde style is based off of reactionism, in terms of the process as well as the product. Art historian Griselda Pollock argues that it must refer to the art world by making aware what is occurring in the art world (borrowing ideas or mimicking other valued or important pieces), and establishing a marked difference between the art world and the art that has already been created—a system coined “reference and difference.” By mocking traditional academic paintings, the avant-garde style is reacting to the academy. Without the academy, avant-garde would not exist. It is not uncommon for works produced in the avant-garde to be difficult to comprehend. In this way, the esotericism that these works presented made them thought provoking and “challenged” observers on their ideals of art. This is how the product involves reaction. I think that the move toward more contemporary art made the process of creating works less important, since it is mostly about reaction and the paintings are not trying to hide their true nature.

Édouard Manet, a French painter and pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism, created a few works that marked the genesis of modern art. One such work is the controversial Luncheon on the Grass—controversial because of its informal use of the nude. It addresses the notion of prostitution and offended viewers because the nude woman’s gaze is fixed outward at the viewer, not only inviting, but making them as much a part of the painting as she is. There are characteristics of this painting that Manet employs that are relative to the style of avant-garde, which work to break illusionism and make the painting true to itself. For instance, the background is somewhat neglected, looking loose and haphazardly painted. Manet also utilizes black and white juxtapositions, and his brushstrokes are loose for the most part, allowing the viewer to see the artist’s hand. There is also a woman behind the main picnic scene that is out of scale with the rest of the subjects. She is placed farther back than her size suggests. All of these devices function to flatten the painting and maintain its inherent character.