Avant Garde

Avant-Garde in London

by Sofia Reyes

Abstract

The aim of this project is to inform readers about the art, especially Avant-Garde. Art has been a big part of my life since six years old when I started taking art classes. I have always like to express myself in Art. However, with all my background in art, I never fully understood what this type of art meant. This project is for everyone who wants to learn more about art, from novices that have never encountered art in their lives to experts that have been painting all their lives but never fully understood this concept of art. My goal was for the readers to understand what Avant-Garde is and who are some of the most famous artists in this movements. At the end, I provided a guide to Avant-Garde art examples in London. Many of these works are within famous art galleries such as National Art Gallery and Tate Modern. Some pieces are really famous works of art while some pieces may go unnoticed however, they all impacted the world by being Avant-Garde. The guide includes four galleries in this city. I considered this to be the top places to observe avant-garde. My contribution to this guide was my opinion towards each magnificent gallery and pictures I took in each gallery.

Introduction

Avant-Garde means advance guard or Vanguard. In the military, they're the ones out front. They are usually small groups of particularly bold and attentive soldiers that see what's ahead, explore the terrain and seek out enemy soldiers. But what does it mean in art? In this milestone, I wrote about what is Avant-Garde, its history and some very prominent artists that have been considered Avant-Gardists. As my deliverable, I created a Guide to Avant-Garde in London. In this guide, I provide many examples of works of art that the Avant-Gardists that I mentioned before. In addition, I also included two galleries that show more recent artists using this style.

In art, the term 'Avant-Garde' denotes artists that open up new and unexplored territory in their works and actions. The 'Avant-Gardists' are able to impact society with their ideas through the various painting that they create. "At the center of exhibitions and the most the unparallel energy of the international 'Avant-Garde' on the threshold of the new century." Artists within Avant-Garde are probably the best-known artists in history; Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh and much more. From Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in London and Paris to Constructivism in Russia and with individual artists such as Edvard Munch and Marcel Duchamp, Avant-Gardists have left an impression in the world.

History

As mentioned above Avant-Garde is the movement in the 19th-century and 20th-century that was recognized by artists who didn't follow tradition. Many of the world's most prominent artists are considered Avant-Garde, but when and where did this term arise from?

The Beginning

The term Avant-Garde was first used in art by Henri de Saint-Simon, a Socialist. As the art historian Donald Egbert said, "It has never previously been pointed out, I believe, that the figurative use of the word Avant-Garde to denote radically progressive leaders of both art and society." Saint-Simon was a French Utopian Socialist and predecessor of Karl Marx. In Egbert's paper, The Idea of Avant-Garde in Art and Politics, he explains how Saint-Simon believed that artists were best fitted to change the society and how in his book, Opinions littéraires, philosophiques et industrielles, he said:

It is we, artists who will serve you as an Avant-Garde, the power of the arts is, in fact, most immediate and most rapid: when

we wish to spread new ideas among men, we inscribe them on marble or canvas. What a magnificent destiny

for the arts is that of exercising a positive power over society, a true priestly function and of

marching in the van [i.e. vanguard] of all the intellectual faculties!

In this simple quote, Saint-Simon talks about the power art, in general, has and how Avant-Garde plays a very important role in the world of art. Art has been a method of communication of ideas, ideas that artists want to spread and that is why it has power. Avant-Garde is a type of art that spreads new ideas that are going to change society and being in this movement is a smart choice. The key word in this quote is new, as it is what defines artists in this movement and even though many artists don't follow or believe in Saint-Simon's beliefs of Socialism, they still consider themselves a part of this movement.

Avant-Garde started with realism, most prominently seen with Gustave Courbet. He was strongly influenced by the ideas of Socialism. Realism is also known as first modern art movement followed by Impressionism and because of this, we can conclude that Modern Art and Avant-Garde go hand in hand.

Avant Garde Art: What’s Going Up in the 80’s?’. Edinburgh International Festival, The Richard Demarco Gallery 1980
Info	Joseph Beuys Tate / National Galleries of Scotland © DACS, 2017

The Movements and Protagonists

The nontraditional work of the Avant-Garde is influenced a lot by the environment around it. Each city, each state, each government, has their own social and political issues. Artists absorb those issues and express themselves through art, affecting their attitude through their paintings. The movement may have surged by Socialist ideals but during the years it changed to be just a form to identify art. No matter what the painter tries to express, if he pushes boundaries, uses their creativity as much as possible, and tries to express new ideas, they can be considered part of this movement.

Avant-Garde art is characterized by going against everything that is mainstream and hatred for the outdated and this is why most movements appear in reaction previous ideas. It all started with Expressionism going against Impressionism. After that, most movements appeared in reaction to Impressionism. Each movement has a unique technique and pattern to oppose past ones and by intentionally confronting traditional schools their works become Avant-Garde. Because of nontraditional style, many times Avant-Garde is classified as meaningless and without purpose. However, each artist has an objective, and most want to impact the society. Below I wrote about some of the movements and artists within this category and a little of their story.

Impression, Sunrise

Info	1908

Impressionism

Impressionists based their style on sensation instead of copying the subject. It started in early 1870's after Realism. In contrary to the realist details, impressionists were objective and expressed their ideas through emotions and sensations. Many artists used short brush strokes and unblended vivid colors focusing on the effects of light. This style gave many works of art in this period a sense of spontaneity and modernity. This new form of art was not traditional and they had to be as creative as they could to give art this new style. Revolutionary artists within this movement include Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre Renoir, among others.

• Claude Monet
  • As a French artist, he is one of the best-known artist in this movement and in the entire art history. He was actually so influential to Impressionism that this movement was named after one of his paintings called Impression, Sunrise. The painting was named like that because "you can only see an impression of the sunrise and the person in it because he changed a lot his subjects and how he depicted them". You have to analyze the painting and interpret what Monet wanted to express. This exactly what Monet and most Impressionists wanted, to make us interpret the impression, as this was his new style. Monet painted many of the same landscapes during different times of the day. This original technique helped him become famous. Each painting is unique, but we can see how can his idea ever-changing image, the indefinite and freely painted forms also point the way toward the more expressive painting techniques.
• Camille Jacob Pissarro
  • Pissarro was one of the of the greatest Impressionist. He used high vivid colors and illumination in landscapes. Following Monet's example, he started painting the same landscape at different times of the day. In many of his paintings, his brushstrokes are very defined making the outline of the model not as defined. This is definitely not abstract art but it is not what was traditional at that time. In most of his paintings, he focused on locals and cities.
• Renoir
  • While Pissarro depicted cities and locals, Renoir focused on the topics of rural life. He mainly painted people in their environment with an artistic irregularity. As part of this movement, most of his paintings barely outlined characters and objects in nature. He gave the impression that his subjects were there but he was not precise with the details. These instantaneous brushstrokes of paint and vivid colors fits perfectly in the Impressionistic style.

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

Info	1907

Post-Modernism

Impressionists paid attention to the fleeting effect of light, atmosphere, and movement. They were spontaneous and with sudden brushstrokes, they created an impression of a landscape. Post-Impressionism or Neo-impressionism emerged in reaction against Impressionism. It was led by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat. They rejected Impressionism’s concern with the spontaneous and naturalistic rendering of light and color. They focused in symbols and structure with a formal order. They still had many things in common with the Impressionists but they stressed the artificiality in their landscapes. The Post-Impressionists also used scientific way as Seurat and Both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism include some of the most famous works of modern art such as Monet’s Waterlilies, a Series of Waterscapes and van Gogh’s Starry Night.

• Degas
  • Degas was a radical painter that created many portraits of modern women and ballet dancers. He captured the gestures of each ballerina. The structure in his paintings and his new technique of compositional logic clearly shows how he parted from Impressionism. He parted from the undefined outlines of the Impressionism and replaced them with linear structuralism as we can see clearly in the most of his paintings of ballerinas.

• Paul Cezanne
  • Cezanne, like Degas, reacted against Impressionism. Cezanne, however, didn’t follow Degas, instead, he abandoned linear perspective and stayed small dabs of paint to express light. His paintings were not exact depict of nature. He expresses emotions in his paintings as no longer as an illusion but "imaginative and idyllic settings". In this new style, he created he used alternated perspective and he represented his personal ideas about naturalness and an ideal life. His view of this nature always entailed an observation of his own perception. He obtained as a result harmony and unity of man and nature in his ideal world. This movement may not have started with him but he defenitly became the most infkuential painter in it.
• Georges Seurat
  • As styles changed a new technique appeared. Georges Seurat was a leader of the Neo-Impressionist technique and this technique is called Pointillism. This approach consisted of softly flickering surface of small dots or strokes of color. Seurat was the first to construct and compose using his spirit of investigator.
• Vincent Van Gogh
  • Van Gogh was a great dutch painter. He was keen for precise details and colors.The colors he used was influenced a lot because of this movement. Before Van Gogh was part of post-modernism he used dark pallete of colors as we can observe in The Starry Night. When he encountered this Post-modernism his style changed, he started using brighter colors and a new unique style of brushstrokes. "Instead of painting realistic paintings with dark muddy colors he started using bright colors with bold, thick brushstrokes. Van Gogh worked hard, and produced more than 2,000 paintings, drawings and sketches in the last ten years of his life." His best-known works were created in the last two years of his life including many works found in the National Gallery.
• Pablo Picasso
  • Picasso "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. This would become the most important painting of the twentieth century, as the forerunner of Cubism, the most complete and radical artistic revolution since the Renaissance," Starting this movement and incredible art works within it, Picasso became "the most celebrated artists of the 20th century"

Guide to Avant-Garde in London

Hopefully, by now you understand what Avant-Garde is in art and some artists that form part of it. Now, I aim to show you examples of galleries located in London, that contain artists in this movement, especially the ones above, and Avant-Garde in general. I chose four galleries in London that I believe contain the most Avant-Garde. In continuation with the history of Avant-Garde, I wrote about Artists of the Past in the first two galleries, The National Gallery and Tate Modern. As you read through this section you will encounter a little information about each gallery and my personal opinion about it. You will also find key works within this galleries with a short explanation and pictures that I took when I visited them. Similarly, in the next section, Galleries of the Present, you can find information about the gallery and my opinion but instead of artists in history, these galleries contain artists that are currently thriving in their careers in art and that have unique techniques, as true Avant-gardists. I also included pictures and the exact address of each gallery.

Artists of the Past

London has so much history in galleries, museums, and the city itself. I chose two galleries that I believe you must see if you want to see Avant-garde. First, the magnificent National Gallery and the spectacular Tate Modern.

The National Gallery

The well known National Gallery in London one of the most visited art galleries in the world. People from all over the world come to this gallery to admire works of art located here. The National Gallery contains works from almost all the artists mentioned above. It contains artists from all over the world and many time periods. This gallery is divided into time periods, in the map above each specific time period is a different color. My personal favorite is the are from 1700-1930 (green exhibitions in the map in Level 2) because it contains almost all the artists I mentioned above.

All thought the green zone you can find avant-garde artists. For the purpose of this project, I chose three rooms that had the most avant-garde art. In rooms 41,43 and 44, you can see art from Monet's time in London to Van Gogh's famous sunflowers. Each room has an explanation that I took from the galleries website for your better understanding of their location in history and pictures that I took while in the gallery.

Room 41

"The works in this room demonstrate the continued vitality of painting as an artistic medium in the early 20th century. In his later years, Cézanne placed an increasing emphasis on structure and solidity, applying paint in regular, hatched brushstrokes, and using color rather than light to convey forms. Ground-breaking compositions such as his monumental Bathers won the respect of younger artists. Claude Monet had great admiration for Cézanne, whom he had known since the 1860s. Monet’s art, like that of Cézanne, evolved gradually. He explored light and color in series of paintings of specific subjects, undertaken at precise times of the day and recording particular atmospheric conditions. In his garden at Giverny in Normandy, Monet painted near-abstract pictures where forms seem to dissolve to the point of disintegration. These echo the chaos of the First World War when major artistic revolutions were underway."

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  Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses)
  Paul Cézanne

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  Irises
  Claude Monet

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  The Water-Lily Pond
  Claude Monet

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  Water-Lilies, Setting Sun
  Claude Monet

Room 43

"In the 1880s some of the Impressionist artists were beginning to enjoy success. The cohesiveness of the initial group had waned, and they were exploring new ways of painting. Camille Pissarro began to work in the new style invented by Georges Seurat, whom he met in 1885. Seurat’s approach, based on scientific color theory, involved using countless tiny dots of pure color, placed in close proximity to each other. When viewed at a distance, the eye blends these individual marks into areas of solid color: a technique called divisionism or pointillism."

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  Bathers at Asnières
  Georges Seurat

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  Bowl of Fruit and Tankard before a Window
  Paul Gauguin

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  'Sunflowers'
  'Vincent van Gogh'

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  'Farms near Auvers'
  'Vincent van Gogh'

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  'Van Gogh's Chair'
  'Vincent van Gogh'

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  'Long Grass with Butterflies'
  'Vincent van Gogh'

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  'Two Crabs'
  'Vincent van Gough

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  The Boulevard Montmartre at Night
  Camille Pissarro

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  The Louvre under Snow
  Camille Pissarro

Room 44

"In the 1860s Edouard Manet shocked exhibition visitors in Paris with his unflinching scenes of modern life, painted boldly and using sober colors. His radical style made a profound impact on many artists. In the years to come, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Alfred Sisley and other young painters in Paris would display an even stronger interest than Manet in the informal aspects of contemporary life. These artists, who often worked in the open air along the river Seine, experimented with flickering brushstrokes and bright colors to capture the fleeting effects of light. They exploited technical advances, such as oil paint in tubes that could be easily transported. As true avant-gardist, they were ahead of the traditional painters using new techniques. "

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  The Thames below Westminster
  Claude Monet

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  Snow Scene at Argenteuil
  Claude Monet

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  Woman with a Cat
  Edouard Manet

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  Music in the Tuileries Gardens
  Edouard Manet

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  The Museum at Le Havre
  Claude Monet

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  The Gare St-Lazare
  Claude Monet

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  The Avenue, Sydenham
  Camille Pissarro

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  Fox Hill, Upper Norwood
  Camille Pissarro

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  The Skiff (La Yole)
  'Pierre-Auguste Renoir

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  Moulin Huet Bay, Guernsey
  Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Tate Modern

1880–1
Display Room	Studio Practice (Room 2)

I consider this Gallery the best place to observe modern and contemporary art. The unique architecture of the building misguide you at first, however, from the lowest level call the "The Tank" to the viewing level where you can see all the city, you can observe incredible works of art. As Modern Art and Avant-garde go together, this place is also great for avant-garde art. Many of the artists mentioned above can be found here and much more new artists that fall into this category. Below I provide information about three pieces that are irrefutably avant-garde. This pieces will mark this movement forever and being able to admire them in this gallery was amazing.

Degas

"This sculpture was created by Degas. The model for this sculpture was a ballet student. Degas first made a reddish-brown wax sculpture of her in the nude. Then, aiming for a naturalistic effect, he dressed it in clothing made of real fabrics. When the wax sculpture was first exhibited, contemporaries were shocked by the unprecedented realism of the piece. He created a sculpture like no one had seen before. Innocent though she may look to us today, Degas's Little Dancer Aged Fourteen caused an outcry when she was first exhibited at the 1881 impressionist exhibition in Paris. The figure was described variously as 'repulsive' and 'a threat to society'. Critics and the public were upset by the realism of the work but also because Degas had represented a provocative modern subject ... dancers were considered part of the seamier side of entertainment and little more than prostitutes. "

1913
Display Room	Collage (Room 2)

Pablo Picasso

"Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper is a small papier collé by Pablo Picasso, produced in 1913. It depicts a series of objects and paper fragments clustered on a table, the oval edge of which has been loosely drawn in the lower right of the composition. The abstracted forms of a guitar, glass, and bottle of the wine cut from white, gray and black colored papers are together with drawn lines indicating other elements of each object’s shape. The objects are shown from several perspectives: while the guitar and table appear to be seen from above; the bottle and glass are shown from the side. Picasso uses this new method of collage in controversy to traditional art."

1917, replica 1964
Display Room	Explore Materials and Objects (Room 4)

Duchamp

"Fountain" is one of Duchamp’s most famous works and is widely seen as an icon of twentieth-century art. The original, which is lost, consisted of a standard urinal, usually presented on its back for exhibition purposes rather than upright, and was signed and dated ‘R. Mutt 1917’. Tate’s work is a 1964 replica and is made from glazed earthenware painted to resemble the original porcelain. The signature is reproduced in black paint. Fountain has been seen as a quintessential example, along with Duchamp’s Bottle Rack 1914, of what he called a ‘readymade’, an ordinary manufactured object designated by the artist as a work of art (and, in Duchamp’s case, interpreted in some way). Marcel Duchamp submitted his sculpture Fountain (an upside-down urinal) for an exhibition organised by the Society of Independents under a false name. Although the society was supposed to show everything submitted by members, the work scandalized the board and was rejected. Duchamp is cited as one of the most important figures in modern art, inspiring many later artists and art movements – notably conceptual art."

Galleries from the Present

The National Gallery and Tate Modern have been in London for a long time in the contrary to the next two galleries I mentioned bellow. These new galleries show young artists that are starting to excel in their careers in art.

Serpentine Galleries

Serpentine Gallery

Back View
location	Kensington Gardens London W2 3XA

The Serpentine Gallery is one of London's most popular art gallery showing modern and contemporary artwork. It is located in the center of Kensington Gardens. It has two galleries on either side of the Serpentine lake: the Serpentine Gallery and the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Hyde Park is one of my favorite places in London, especially because of Serpentine Galleries. They provide a space where artists can show their paintings and everyone in the park can see it. They have seasonal shows and a summer pavilion. The architecture of the pavilions is unique and it is said to be the world's first and most ambitious architecture program of its kind.

Seasonal Shows

This two galleries change seasonally and have eight shows per year. I focused on Summer 2017 summer shows: The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever! by Grayson Perry and A Series Of Utterly Improbable, yet Extraordinary Renditions by Arthur Jafa.

Serpentine Gallery': The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever! by Grayson Perry
"Perry’s abiding interest in his audience informs his choice of universally human subjects. Working in a variety of traditional media such as ceramics, cast iron, bronze, printmaking and tapestry, Perry is best known for his ability to combine delicately crafted objects with scenes of contemporary life. His subject matter is drawn from his own childhood and life as a transvestite, as well as wider social issues ranging from class and politics to sex and religion."

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Serpentine Sackler Gallery: A Series Of Utterly Improbable, yet Extraordinary Renditions by Arthur Jafa.
"Jafa’s work is driven by a recurrent question: how might one identify and develop a specifically Black visual aesthetics equal to the ‘power, beauty and alienation’ of Black music in US culture?
This new exhibition, titled A Series of Utterly Improbable, Yet Extraordinary Renditions, takes the form of a site-specific installation at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in which Jafa has transformed the space with a series of new assemblages that encompass film, photography and found footage. The title of the exhibition relates to the sense of absence that Jafa observes as haunting Black life. The word ‘rendition’ refers to the artist’s interpretation of the aesthetics associated with Black being, which are historically-inscribed in images, objects and artefacts. By re-performing these narratives in the present, Jafa imagines and constructs new possibilities for making them visible. In addition to his exhibition at the Sackler Gallery, Jafa will also devise a new, site-specific event as part of the 2017 Park Nights series, which takes place in the Serpentine Pavilion, this year designed by Francis Kéré."

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Serpentine Gallery

Serpentine Pavilion 2017
Artist	Francis Kéré

Pavillion

Each year, they commission an architect to create a summer pavilion. The first one was created by Zaha Hadid in 2000 and since then there has being one every year. In 2016, the temporary venue was created by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. He created this venue with fiberglass frame. The pyramid of blocks kind of resembles a glacial crevasse.

"For the 2017 Serpentine Pavillion was designed by Francis Kere. He was born in Burkina Faso, where he got the inspiration for this pavilion. He was inspired the tree that serves as a central meeting point for life in this village, his home. He used a new artistic and architectonic method into the design and he seeks to connect its visitors to nature and each other. An expansive roof, supported by a central steel framework, mimics a tree's canopy, allowing air to circulate freely while offering shelter against London rain and summer heat. He is trying to portrait a tree and how gathering under it was refreshing. He also portraits culture as he explains that he uses indigo blue because it is a key color for his culture. He invites everyone in to admire his work of art and new design. Just as this artist, every artist that creates a pavilion uses a new technique in his or er design. They can be considered avant-gardists because of this new methods. "

Unit London

Location	147-149 WARDOUR STREET SOHO, LONDON W1F 8WD 11AM - 7PM, EVERY DAY

"Located in Soho, classified by tourists as one of the most Avant-Garde neighborhood, it is a spot for shadiness and cheap food and music, stand-up comedy and cabaret performances. This is a great area to experience different forms of culture, from cuisine to clubs." Unit London is located right it the middle of all this. This gallery looks simple from the outside but has some of the best modern art in London. You can see culture, Emotions, techniques in each work of art, "Founded in 2013 by two young artists, Unit London was born from a desire to break down the barriers of elitism and to include people in the contemporary art world - whether they be enthusiasts, first-timers, new collectors, or seasoned collectors and institutions - we strongly believe that everybody should be able to enjoy the world's most amazing art. "

This Gallery is very inclusive and is open 7 days a week until the early evening. They provide a space for artists and visitors an open space to express themselves. "We have always wanted to provide a platform for the world's most exciting talent to showcase their work to the widest possible audience. We don't believe that incredible work should be reserved for only the select few. We are strong believers in the power of online, and we use digital and social media to broadcast our artists and their work to audiences all over the globe."

PRISMATIC BRUISER

2017
MAterial	Fibreglass life-cast with prismatic finish. 120 x 52 cm

Most Artists in this gallery started as street artists with u a unique aesthetic and technic has made them famous. A great example of this is the artists is Schoony. His brilliance has brought the art world by storm and his hyperrealist sculptures question war, mortality and contemporary society. PRISMATIC BRUISER is one of his most famous sculptures. It reminds me of Degas's. "Schoony’s background is rooted in special effects and prosthetics for the film industry, with his career spanning over twenty-five years. Since the age of fifteen he has worked on over a hundred films, his work and reputation for high-class pioneering techniques has reached the far corners of the world." Altogether with his unique technique Schoony has had many different themes, examining capitalism and pop culture. He has a keen eye that provides the capacity to create such magnificent sculptures. As the gallery says it their webpage: "Schoony’s career has gone from strength to strength, exhibiting widely throughout Europe and the US. His work has won him critical acclaim from the Times, The Independent and ArtNet News, he is also featured on Artsy."

Another British artist that has had an exhibition at this gallery is Tom French, a highly collectible and well-regarded artist. He creates monochromatic canvases. This black and white canc=vases are unique and have very precise detail. In these canvases you can find faces, figures and skulls repeat and shadow one-another. This simplicity of colors allows him to transmit his message easily with no distraction. "Each scene is a snapshot of a story, with a dynamic between the characters working on various levels, which ties into the bigger picture; there's much more to these images than illusion alone." Tom French

Tom French

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RED BURQUA, 2016 by Cecile Plaisance

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Other Works in the Gallery

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Conclusion

To conclude, Avant-Garde was a revolutionary movement of art that was recognized by its original and they had the crusade to influence society. Most of the artists in this movements are the world's most known artists including Monet, Van Gogh, and Picasso. Their styles are very different but their originality and goals were the same. I believe that this style is more than just a movement of art because of how it has affected the world and how it still does. In the guide I created I display both the past and the present avant-garde. I provide a map to the right for a better understanding of their location. The National Gallery(red) and Tate Modern(blue) are the two galleries with artist of the past and Serpentine Gallery(green) and Unit London(yellow) are the galleries with artists of the present. This project limits to some movements of avant-garde, however, further research will show that are a lot more movements. Each movement affects the world somehow. Art is more than a form of expression, it has the power to change the world.

External Links

https://maphub.net/sreyes/map
http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern