The Avant-Garde: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #342

by David Cottington

For over a hundred years, the idea of the "avant-garde" has been perhaps the most important and influential force in modern culture, ruling the critical assessment of the significance of an artist or a work of art. If they have been judged to be "avant-garde," then they are worthy of consideration. But very little attempt has been made to explore why the idea of the "avant-garde" carries so much authority, or how it came to do so. What is more, the term remains a difficult one to define, and is often used in a variety of ways.
In this Very Short Introduction, art historian David Cottington illuminates the concept of the avant-garde, exploring its wider context through the development of western modernity, capitalist culture, and the global impact of both. Cottington looks at the relation between "the avant-garde"--that is, the social entity (the "club")--and "avant-garde" qualities in a work of art (or design, or architecture, or any other cultural product), and he sheds light on the meaning of "avant-gardism." Perhaps most interesting, he considers whether--now that contemporary art seems to have broken all taboos and is at the center of a billion-dollar art market--is there still an "avant-garde" at all. And if so, what is the point of it and who are the artists concerned?
About the Series:
Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2013

Reviews

[Davy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the VSI series, and I've enjoyed every one I've read. This one was a little disappointing. Not because it doesn't do what it sets out to do -- it's full of stimulating history and avant-garde theory, and it is successful at pointing out the linkages and discussing the contrasts between various sub-movements. It's enlightening and it makes sense, but it's also pretty dry. Readability should be a priority in this series, even if that requires a degree of intellectual restraint on the part of the author...the tamping down of certain impulses. This volume gets down and dirty in a hurry. It's intriguing, certainly, but exploring the avant-garde -- and the restless innovation, audacious creativity, and unprecedented influence it is known for -- should probably be a bit more fun than this.

[Lindie ✦ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful story of ✨eurocentricism✨🙄

[Michael Buttner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a lot. Sometimes had difficulty slogging through the author’s half-page run-on sentences. Would’ve appreciated a little more analysis of anything post 1930s. Glad Situationist International got a shoutout.

[Kamakana · Rating 4 out of 5]

251216: things I did not know.

[Arvind Balasundaram · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short intro does a good job of tracing the rich history of how a French term of military origin came to be associated with everything from newness, social nonconformism, artistic movements and left-leaning political sentiments. Cottington presents the evolution of avant-garde-ism as a juxtapostion between the model first proposed by Saint-Simon ('a state technocratic socialism in which the artists would play a crucial role in the leadership of society') and the position articulated by the poet Shelley (who in his essay 'Defence of Poetry' argued for imagination itself as the highest moral quality that requires no programme in order for poets to fulfill). Along the way, the author calls out differences between avant garde-ism and modernism, the role of capitalism and consumerism, and also highlights how the avant-garde expressed itself in very varied ways depending on the times and cultural contexts in which the expression took place.
The volume covers copious information on a difficult subject, and accomplishes it pithily under 125 pages. However, while some sections flow very easily, others get trapped in excessive conceptual content that detracts from the progress of the narrative. In some places, more could have been done to call out exemplary works that launched particular sub-variations of the avant-garde. All in all, however, a single reading suffices to provide its reader with a good holistic understanding of how the avant-garde came to be, and why it morphed in and out in the myriad ways in which it did, and continues to do - a monumental accomplishment for any writer with only a few pages to explain a rather abstruse subject to his/her inquisitive readership....

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this introduction Cottington traces the history of the avant-garde and my understanding is that the avant-garde refers to innovative, experimental, creative work that provides an alternative to the art of the establishment, or academic. It is involved in a cycle in which an avant-garde is created, which challenges established art, notions, and tastes, but then becomes popular, and professionalizes, and slowly morphs into the new establishment. Eventually, a new avant-garde is needed to provide an alternative for the old avant-garde which has become the establishment.

The first avant-garde was created by Napoleon III as a way of taking power away from academies. He created art salons and invited only people who were rejected from major art prizes; thus, creating a new establishment out of those who were not accepted by the establishment.

This short introduction, was not as exciting as some others I've read, but it did its job of teaching me about the avant-garde. In the conclusion Cottington points to some possible futures, or describes the present, of the avant-garde, referring mostly to the development of non-western avant-garde.

[Audrey Bridges · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very informative -- but not written as if it is a "short introduction." It is very dense, and seems like every sentence has another 10-letter, unnecessary, word. It is very difficult to read.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

The "Short Introduction" series is what it says it is. Unfortunately for me, there were dozens of writers and artists that I had never heard of, but it was an informative read nonetheless.

[Omid · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess writer could've done better in explaining it.
comparing to Art History from A very short introduction, this book was totally failed to give me basic information.

[David Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was The Avant Garde A Very Short Introduction by David Cottington which is a very good book which I bought from kindle. Nowadays Avant Garde is a common and well known term in the English language and is often used to sell something supposed to be hip and trendy. Almost everyone has heard of Avant Garde as it pertains to art with there still being Avant Garde art produced. The original term was a French military term and at the time of the French Revolution artists in France would often take military terms and apply them to their paintings. Originally Avant Garde was used to describe the type of politics in France at that time and it was pretty anarchic. Later it would be applied to other things like music and design not just art. France had 3 Republics before they realized what they needed to do was relax censorship and up until that time anyone starting a newspaper had a substantial deposit in case they broke any censorship rules. This rule was relaxed but soon afterwards there was the Russian Revolution which took a lot of inspiration from the French. They started looking at experimenting with non-conformist art. Art had certain rules that Avant-Garde art tried to do away with. There is a notorious so called piece of music by John Cage that doesn't contain a single note and is in the Guiness Book Of Records as the shortest piece of music ever written. Later on in places like New York there was an Avant Garde revival in the wake of the AIDS epidermic where many people thought the government weren't doing enough to prevent it's spread. One issue was they should let victims try experimental drugs not yet on the market. Let's face it they had nothing to lose. The Catholic Church has come in for criticism because it doesn't believe in contraception. Later artists started experimenting with African Art and this again was called Avant Garde. Often art is polically motivated and it is difficult to separate the two. Other art movements such as Dadaism have often been referred to as Avant Garde. I really enjoyed this book and it does give you a lot to think about.

[Brian Howell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-reading...

[Vikas Datta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incisive analysis of a fascinating trend in art and culture...