“Triumph of the avant-garde” The term “avant-garde” was originally used in reference to the advancement of a military unit. In the late 18th century and into the 19th century, a movement began in art and architecture that was intended to do just that. Artists were beginning to move forward in their expression of ideas. They were trying new techniques, and testing the boundaries of what was acceptable. These avant-garde artists were beginning to challenge art itself and its very definition. Up to his point, art was about expression, but the expression was limited by rules and governed by the very specific influences of period. For the purposes of success and acceptance, most artists up to this point conformed to the “norm”. Art was about making a specific product that was pleasing to the eye. But during the late 18th century, political and social changes were also changing the way artists were expressing themselves. New techniques were being introduced. In fact, much of art became less about the final product, and more about the technique and process itself. Artists were being less influenced by trends, and more influenced by the desire for social and political change. Artists were also beginning to focus more on expressing their own personal thoughts, feelings, and ideas. A great example of this is the synthetism used by Paul Gauguin. With it, he synthesized the observation of subjects in nature with his own personal feelings about the subjects. An example of this is Mahana no atua (Day of the God). Gauguin had taken a trip to Tahiti. When setting out on his trip, he envisioned a country rich with culture and tradition. He found instead a country that was losing its culture. Upon his return to Paris, he created Mahana no atua from memory. He divided the painting into three horizontal sections. In the top section (the least abstract of the three), Gauguin depicts the statue of a god with Tahitians on the beach behind it. In the middle section, three humans are centered directly under the statue of the god. The female in the center is seated in a provocative pose, while the two on the sides are lying in a fetal position. These figures likely symbolize the cycle of birth, life, and death. The lower section of the painting is the most abstract of the three sections. In it, Gauguin used a pattern of vibrantly colored shapes to depict a pool of water. Because there is a beach, and because the middle character in the painting has her feet in it, we know it’s supposed to be a body of water. But there is no reflection on the water as there would be in reality. It’s as if Gauguin is revealing that this is not reality, but his own glorified vision of what the reality should be. During the turn of the century, society, culture, and politics were all changing at a rapid pace, and artists continued to pour their personal thoughts and feelings into their works of art. An example of this is Edvard Munch’s The Scream. About this painting, Munch explained in his diary, “one evening I was walking along a path; the city was on one side, and the fjord below. I was tired and ill…I sensed a shriek passing through nature…I painted the picture, painted the clouds as actual blood.” It’s as if Munch took all of the anxiety he was feeling, turned them into paint, and then poured them out for the world to see. The swirling lines and abstract shapes create a feeling of chaos. The shades of reds and oranges in the sky, the ominous dark colors of the landscape, and the sunken in features on the face of the main figure combine to depict the anxiety and fear of death. On a technical note, the abstract details and use of dramatic color in the painting are reminiscent of Gauguin. Even into the 20th century, artists continued to further push the limits on what was acceptable to society and the arts. They continued to promote the concept that the process of creating art is sometimes more important than the final work of art itself. In the 1940’s in New York, a form of nonrepresentational art was beginning to emerge called Abstract Expressionism. Psychological ideas like “collective unconscious” and “symbolic association” also began playing an important role in the art world. One of the ideas born of these concepts was action painting, or gesturism. Jackson Pollock is an excellent example of this. Like many avant-garde artists, he took inspiration not from external visuals, but from the feelings, sometimes turmoil, that were within him. In Pollock’s Autumn Rhythm, he spread a large canvas on the floor and used fluid movements with sticks and brushes to drip and splatter the paint onto the canvas from above. The result is an intricate series of threads of color. It’s entrancing to look at it and try to trace the patterns as they weave in and out and overlap one another. The beauty of Pollock’s work is in the way it was created. He used the movements of his entire body to express what he was going through at the time. I think it would have been absolutely fascinating to watch Jackson Pollock work. And that’s the reason his work is so profound. He was able to wrap up the emotions and feelings and literally throw them down. And without a single literal element, we are able to read those emotions and feelings as well as if he’d written them down on paper. Some say that avant-garde art is pretentious and elitist. I actually think the opposite. In each of the works I’ve discussed above, the artist was able to fully express himself in his work. They all let go of the rules and conventions that once defined art and began making works that reflected who they were and what they were thinking and feeling. The artists opened themselves up to vulnerability, as we became outside observers to their inner-most thoughts, opinions and feelings. It’s almost as if artists stopped making art for other people to enjoy, and began making art that served a purpose in their own lives. The fact that others viewed it and enjoyed it seems to just have been an added benefit for some of the artists.