What is Avant-Garde?

        Occasionally, we run into words that have no precise definition. Although we all know what they mean, we fail to be able to give an exact meaning. Avant-garde is a word that has been sprinkled throughout the literature I’ve read over the span of my life. Although it has been used sparingly, I’ve made a definition out of it over the years by evaluating the situations it is used in.
         The first thing I always used to think of when it came to the word avant-garde was abstraction. I thought of it as a synonym of experimental, non-typical, or even deranged. Pictures of multi-colored squares and deformed heads finger-painted on a professional canvas came to mind. My definition was purely visual, for I couldn’t give the precise meaning through words.
         After reading more about the history of avant-garde art, I’ve been able to find a more fitting definition for it. When in the very early 1900s it was introduced as the modern art of Europe, people were shaken by its surrealism. Although it had been around in countries such as France for decades, it was a rather unfamiliar style to the tradition-based Americans.
         This new art had an enormous impact on society. It was a terrifying experience, for not only was the world of the arts permanently changed by this movement. As people stared bewildered at enigmatic paintings such as Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending the Stairs, their vision of the world was also revolutionized.  It was as though people were staring through a window they never knew was there.
         If you looked up avant-garde in the dictionary you would find definitions such as “unorthodox or daring; radical” or “new or original”, but the truth is it is among the most subjective of terms you could find. The definition I grew up believing in is not considered untrue, yet it could be expanded upon. The world of art continues to grow and develop, and so does the usage of avant-garde to describe it.