The Avant-Garde Movement
If I cut off the leg of society, can it still stand, and will society stumble over itself just to make the effort? These were the questions of the avant-garde movement. By forcing society to question its morals, beliefs, and standards the movement cut off the leg on which society stands. Although, society fell at first, it picks itself up, and stands on its other leg: the leg of wealth, fame, and commercialization.
The avant-garde, which by design was one of the most controversial art movements, began in France in 1850. The term avant-garde itself means, "advanced guard," and military role of the advanced guard, and the role of the avant-garde art movement are much of the same. The artists of this movement desired not only to challenge traditional art but also society as a whole. The movement desired to pose this challenge in the form of confusing the elite, upsetting commerce, and just plain incensing moral society. These artists aimed at tearing down the status quo.
Courbet was the first artist to describe himself as a member of the avant-garde. Many of his actions resembled what which became the stereotypical avant-garde artist. Courbet was a radical, in and out of prison, tearing down major monuments, and displaying intense egotism. He even went so far as to claim to be the best artist in France. When the Saloon refused to show his work, Courbet was unaffected,; he just marched across the street and opened up his own show. The Saloon's rejection of Courbet's work was to be expected, after all Courbet was a realist. The elite society of the time thought of realism as base because of the ordinary subject matter and models often used. If the subject matter was not high and lofty, magical and mystical, depicting gods and goddesses than the work itself was as worthless as the scene it depicted. This notion that good art only comes in one style, and that is the style of the upper crust, was exactly the lie Courbet and his friends would work to dispel. Millet was one such artist that inspired others to portray the ordinary working class. Millet, associated with the French movement and the Barbonzion School, inspired such artists and Vincent Van Gogh and Salvador Dali.
"The Persistence of Memory" Dali
Salvador Dali was a key player in the avant-garde movement. Dali was a master of surrealism, taking the avant-garde movement to a whole new level. Adhering to the Freudian model, Dali desired to tap into the id and paint on a level that all people would inherently understand. In other words, Dali unleashed his over active imagination and erotic sensitivity on canvas. The effect-people unwillingly played right into his hand and began to question and reevaluate their moral standard. Dali also co-produced a film with his friend Bunuel that took the absurd, the irrational, the vulgar, the cruel and the unthinkable and made it art. A dead donkey stuffed inside a piano with pus oozing out of the donkey's deep eye sockets and mouth, being dragged by two men harnessed like animals crawling across the floor flashes across the screen. Needless to say, people were incensed. However, Dali was successful in his attempts to make a closed-minded society broaden their perspective and evaluate what they hold as real and true. Dali also illustrates the delicate tension that existed between the patrons and the artist of this avant-garde movement. The delicate tension was inescapable. Artists who deliberately made fun of and flew in the face of the wealthy upper crusts were dependent upon these very people to supply the funding for their work. Without their patrons, any artist, including those of the avant-garde movement, would starve on the streets. So while these artists despised the system, they lived by the system, and every now and then, even found themselves liking their patrons. After all, the artists dislike was for the status-quo society, not the individuals.
Later in the movement the artist of the
avant-garde begin to take on another role in society. They see
their work and make a number of illusions to their work as a "saving"
agent of society, much like the role of religion. In the movie
"The Horse's Mouth" Gulley Jimpson is a fictional portrayal
of the stereotypical avant-garde artist. Although Gulley Jimpson
is portrayed as having no respect for his patrons or their property,
this disregard and disrespect is all overlooked because of the
enlightenment he brings them via his art. Basquiat even went so
far as to spray paint on a wall "Samos is an alternative
to God." The avant-garde wished to serve as the moral conscience
of the upper class much like religion does. Also later work, such
as Hiezser's huge sculpture out in the middle of the desert, brings
religious associations of the "prophet in the desert"
feel. The work emphasized through physical isolation the social
isolation of the artwork while fighting the myth that to be of
value the artwork had to be portable, tradable, and able to hang
on one's wall. To see this work one would have to take a pilgrimage
of sorts and in the very doing so validate the importance of the
artwork. This work by Hiezer and other works such as the Spiral
Jetty by Smithson were last ditch efforts however in the dying
class of avant-garde artwork. 
The downfall of the avant-garde could almost be considered the fulfillment of the original artist's goal. The original push of the avant-garde movement was for the upper crust and elite society to broaden their perspective and validate the artwork of the expressionist. However, when this was achieved avant-garde no longer became avant-garde, but merely the excepted "modern art." The forming of modern art museums was one of the last steps in the downfall of the avant-garde. These museums such as The Museum for Modern Art in New York were funded by America's wealth, i.e. Rockafeller, and in these museums modern art got its stamp of approval. One of the reasons these museums led to the downfall of the movement was because of the trend to hang the art in synoptic fashion. Two works of art with completely opposing messages could be hung side by side taking the sharp political, social, or moral edge away from each individual work. People were no longer able to see the meaning in the works because they were too consumed by its price tag. The avant-garde could no longer be the conscience of the upper crust because it was now the upper crust. This transition of avant-garde work from worthless to priceless frustrated the last of the avant-garde artists. Artists such as Warhol and Basquiat get caught in the search for authenticity. Basquiat was accused of exploiting his heritage and black skin while in reality he passionately despised every racist comment about him as a "black artist," instead of just an artist. In his artwork Basquiat also commented on how the art dealers and art collectors of the time were like leeches, parasites, and flees all feeding off of an artist's ability to sell and market their work. The avant-garde movement disappeared when people began to market, sell, and approve of the work and artists. Basquiat and Warhol were the last of the dying breed and the movement died shortly after they did, making its end roughly around 1970.
Although, the avant-garde artists state their dissension through art, it is not necessarily passive dissension. Because high society does not take criticism well, they would rather agree with the artists, ie buy their work claiming it genius, than concede that a "lower class" understands something so complex that they themselves cannot fathom it. What the upper crust could not understand they merely socialized, so that now nothing has shock appeal. As a society we have grown so accustomed to the absurd that tolerance is not just a praised attribute but society's ultimate answer. What scares me is not that people wish to challenge society, but that people no longer can.
the information on this page was gathered through class dicussions and The Annotated Mona Lisa
pictures on this page retrieved from: artchive.com; 2nd picture "Campbell's Soup,1" Warhol