On the ruins of the historical avant‐garde: The institution of art and its contemporary exigencies

Abstract

The focus of this theoretical paper is the analysis of the European historical avant‐garde as an excess of modernism. As such, its goal was two‐fold. First, it tried to transcend the institution of autonomous art and second, it attempted to integrate art into everyday life. In this light, the paper presents the contingencies of the genesis and main features of the historical avant‐garde's doctrine and practice. It further argues that the historical avant‐garde ended in a collapse of the aesthetic and practical dimension without corresponding emancipation. This failure, in turn, laid down the groundwork for the post‐modern art which appropriated the stylistic and formal innovations of historical avant‐garde while comfortably remaining within the institution of art. Thus, the post‐modern betrayal of the values embedded in avant‐garde and modernist works of art appears to be a necessity.