Avant-Garde – Art that Changed the World?

Abstract

The first decades of the 20th century were marked by a great rebellion against tradition, current habits and aesthetics. This manifested itself in art through avant-garde movements throughout Europe. Through their revolutionary concepts and tendencies, these movements sought to change the overall social and cultural environment. At the same time, the character of the historical context was such that it coincided with the revolutionary aspirations of the avantgarde movements, and their art had a significant political engagement. The ways in which members of these movements conceived their ideas and activities were varied. The aim of this research is to examine different models of action of avant-garde movements, their influences and effects on cultural and social transformation. This implies an analysis of the methods and echoes in society that the activities of avant-garde artists had. The research examines the effect of the utilitarian approach of constructivists and productivists, pointless and meditative in suprematism, critical denial of the bourgeois epoch in dada, or aggressive provocations in surrealism. Also interesting for the research is the influence of the fierce fighting spirit of the German artistic left, as well as the activation of the nationalist content in Italy. Through research the goal is to acquire knowledge and reach conclusions about the potential to significantly influence the wider social community and human consciousness through the visual arts. The avant-garde is a suitable testing ground for research on this topic due to the large number of diverse artistic practices that, with more or less success, have pursued the same goal – a revolutionary transformation of culture and society. In addition, avant-garde art and ideas were decades ahead of their time, and rethinking this phenomenon may be significant to us in terms of comparison with today’s visual arts context.