What is avant garde?

So, we have already known something about this topic. But, what does avant-garde mean? If we want to understand the key idea of this style, first of all, it is necessary to find an avant garde definition. Therefore, “avant garde” — a general name of the trend — both in world culture in general and in European culture in particular. Avant garde origin is connected with the XIX–XX centuries when the intellectual elite of society felt a certain disappointment in culture. During this time, humanity experienced a lot of severe traumas: wars, crises, as well as scandals. We can say that all this was somehow reflected in culture. Therefore, to define the avant garde, we need to understand the reasons for revolutions in culture.

Historians told us, avant garde in art is connected, first of all, with political ideas. An avant garde school was especially strongly associated with the ideas of utopians, as well as anarchists. So, we are not surprised, because in the avant garde period, the great world monarchies are experiencing their collapse, and the usual world order is rapidly collapsing. Interestingly, the avant garde salon is often confused with modernism. This is explained by the similarity of these directions, and also by the fact that the term “avant-garde” did not catch on well, finally entering circulation only in the 1950s. Although it was first used by Theodore Dure in 1885 — the historian who first described impressionism.

Famous avant-garde artworks

The avant garde movement is connected with many prominent artists — stars of their time: Michel Seuphor, Mykhailo Larionov, Kazimir Malevich, Natalya Goncharova, Edvard Munch and others. It can be noticed that we hear many of these names about other directions: for instance, the famous avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich is also a representative and founder of suprematism. It was another advanced, revolutionary turn in the culture.

These facts can be explained by the fact that historians and art critics include the following styles and trends in art as avant-garde:

expressionism (Edward Munch);
suprematism (Kazimir Malevich);
futurism (Vladimir Tatlin);
cubism (Georges Braque);
surrealism (Salvador Dali).

So what makes a typical avant garde artwork different? We can describe a work of art that puts the construction, and emphasis on geometric shapes, as well as lines in the foreground. Authors valued ancient, primitive forms, and emphasized folklore, as well as exotic, extravagant motifs in their masterpieces. The main style characteristic was brevity, the desire to minimize the art sources. Moreover, the avant-garde masterpiece semantic is very noticeable: the author accompanied each of the works with a corresponding “explanatory note”.

Buy avant garde artworks

In our avant garde artworks gallery, you have a unique opportunity to learn more about this style. You can visit our blog to read professional expert articles. In addition, by visiting our site, you can easily explore the entire palette of works in this style and buy avant garde artworks, if you want. Today, the avant-garde is already considered a classic, although at one time it meant a break with what is familiar to us, a break with traditions.

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