The Nature of the Avant Garde in Late Modernism

Since time immemorial, art has been an integral tool in influencing a society, pushing forth ideas, expressing the general atmosphere amongst the party’s involved and fighting vices in the society. Art is fundamental in the transformation of any society through its ability to influence opinions and values. Through sound, vision any other form that art may take, communications is enhanced. Visual art, Music and poetry have always been the most used.

Art in general is a form of expression. Individuals use art to express emotions, passion, or make a statement. Society can have an impact on how an artist chooses to express his or her sentiments. The beauty of it all is that interpretation is what makes art so unique. The same piece of art can mean so many different things due to who is looking at it. Just like everything else, art changes with time. There has been different eras in art that have impacted society as we know it.

This essay analyses the aesthetic and ideological underpinnings of the Modernist artwork, Impression, Sunrise of Claude Monet. The artwork and Impressionism is considered to be a visual articulation of the avant-garde and the latter statement is explained. References to the writings of Charles Harrison, Clement Greenberg and Wilhelm Worringer is used to theorise the aesthetics of modernity.

n reflecting on this week’s readings, I can see the connection between the previous readings on the Harlem Renaissance and the one on Abstract Expressionism, especially as it relates to art being used for social change. Just as our society was moving at a fast pace, so was our art. Looking back, it’s amazing to see how racism, women’s rights and war brought on so many different attitudes and the art of the 20th century represented these different ideas. As it relates to war, many people were concerned about the dangers of democracy, while others emphasized patriotism. In either case, you can see a split between people’s perceptions and beliefs. It’s clear that most of the artist of the 20th century that we discussed were always on the cutting edge toward cultural change. Their shocking and innovative techniques reflected the changing values that represented a forever changing society; and often times their art helped shaped our culture, and at the same time, reflected that culture back on to us. From all the different art movements discussed during this course, this week’s readings represents the changing role they art is beginning to play in the political area. I believe that art plays a vital role in democracy, by creating openness and the freedom of expression. It’s amazing how art, be that it through a painting, literature, sculpting or through music can bring about change. Art really makes an impact on our culture and society, from instilling values or by changing opinions. It seems at the heart of every major change throughout our history, you will find an artist that created that change through his or her works. We form our ideas by seeing,

Art flourishes in a civilization when people communicate complicated ideas and emotions used to create pieces. Art changes with society. In Egyptian times, they built pyramids that were like monuments and had their own artistic style that was represented by hieroglyphics and human figures made of stone. This was the Egyptians mark in time. In our modern-day society, we have buildings, paintings, and statues that all represent the present. Things like politics or natural disasters happening to us currently can help art flourish with expression towards these things. We have political cartoons being created to show the outrage within the political world. There are pieces that make history and remind us of something devastating like a hurricane or earthquake that destroyed cities and took lives. I think art flourishes in both devastating and uplifting times.

The future will know the socially, politically, economically, and personally stories of today because of contemporary art. It will share even the minimal detail about the experiences that drove artists and their desires to push society to the extreme in order to prove their point as an attempt to deconstruct the conformity within society. Contemporary art will share the evident paradigm and gradual metamorphism of society between the future and the past. Ordinarily, It will offer a visual glimpse into the surreal reality of this era, and all that surrounds it, and the influences of our

Art gives voice to those that cannot speak and is a tool used to combat inequality. In particular, visual art such as murals represents more than just art on a wall but rather the struggle for

Many artists use their culture in art work as a way to express themselves which also can reflect on the society or environment where the art piece was created. Art is used to communicate idea influenced by the positive and negative impacts from society. Society plays an important role in shaping one’s personality and depending on the Artists art work it can sometimes a representation of spiritual meanings, political views and emotionally motivated thoughts which can be seen by the viewers within the piece. There are many ways visual artists express their emotions through their art, producing an art piece while in an emotional frame of mind can result in the emotions reaching the canvas. Art motivates and influences people that’s why, most people

History is described as the timeline of events that can impact the future. History in turn influences everything around us.  One of the most influential pieces of our history is art.  Art is known as “the expression or application of creative skill that is in visual or physical form such as sculpture that is appreciated for its beauty and emotional power from creating the piece”(Oxford press).Art has different uses and means from different eras and times.  Some eras in history use art for ritual means and practices while other eras use art as a representation of their wealth and use it to underscore their social class in society.  Art is influenced by the point in time in which it was created.  Because of this pre colonial, 1920s, 1940s and

In today’s society we feel a constant need for expressing, or venting, our disgust towards the disappointing events happening across the world. Throughout history, and even today, we see harsh treatment of people because they didn’t meet the “norm” of skin color, sexuality, nationality, ideas, creativeness, gender, success etc.; yet, all calls for opposition and national spotlight has been voiced through some form of art. Art has proven to be an outlet used to give voice to those who need it; with the intent of bringing us together, helping to see the

Art is a catalyst of change. It can confront both social and political issues as well as providing people with a creative outlet in which they can express their innermost thoughts and feelings - but what effect can art have on our society as a whole? Artists today have the unique ability to connect with people in a creative, innovative way that they can understand and interpret themselves. With this ability, artists are able to express their own views as well as influencing the views of others. Art is an immense part of our world – so much so that we barely even consider its impact upon us – but just how significant is the work of artists in our modern day society?

Modernism is a movement in art that desires to push the boundaries of the past art movements. The artists of this movement seek to have the viewer examine the art and seek different ways to view their pieces. Although most of Marcel Duchamp’s working career was in the Dadaism art movement his work, inspired by the avant-garde, pushed through to inspire the Modernism movement. In “Marcel Duchamp’s Art and the Geography of Modern Paris” by Dr. James Housefield, he examines the works of Duchamp and the significance they

Despite the fact that Dada was an impactful movement, it paled in comparison to art movements such as Modernism and Renaissance because during the early 20th century the world was too focused on war to appreciate art. The Dada movement went against Modern Art in a big way, so much in fact that the reason Dada is called ‘anti-art’ is because it was the opposite of modern art, which was considered the norm for art. While modernism promoted order and the natural way the world worked, Dada represented the disarray of society and how usual conventions could change in a second.

Piotr Piotrowski. (2009). Toward a Horizontal History of the European Avant-Garde. In: Sascha Bru, Jan Baetens, Benedikt Hjartarson, Peter Nicholls, Tania Ørum Hubert van den Berg. Europa! Europa?: The Avant-Garde, Modernism and the Fate of a Continent. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. 49-58.

“Modern painting, breaking through old conversation, has released countless suggestions which are still waiting to be used by the practical world.”(Gropius) The birth of modernism and modern art goes back to the Industrial Revolution, a period that lasted from the 18th to the 19th century, in which rapid changes in manufacturing, transportation, and technology profoundly affected the social, economic, and cultural conditions of life in Western Europe, North America, and eventually the world. Before the 19th century, artists created art pieces for wealthy people and institution places like the church where they can create art works about storytelling of religious or mythological scenes . These arts were there to instruct the viewers.However, this changed when during the 19th century many artists began to create works that were about people, places, or ideas that interested them, and of which they had direct experience. With the popularization of the idea of a subconscious mind, many artists began exploring dreams, symbolism, and personal iconography as avenues for the depiction of their subjective experiences.Challenging the notion that art must realistically depict the world, some artists experimented with the expressive use of color, non-traditional materials, and new techniques and mediums.