Avant-garde refers to artwork that is different from what is considered the natural or the norm. There is no logical explanation for work that is created this way. When looking at work of art such as the Luncheon on the Grass by Manet you can see that it is a strange setting and somewhat difficult to understand what is going on.
It is hard to tell what is happening in the painting. You see a naked woman sitting with two dressed men during what looks like a picnic. Then you also see a dressed woman in the background. When people look at paintings they want to know the story behind it and with this painting you can’t really know the story behind it because it is so bizarre. This painting is a great example of Avant-garde because it challenges viewers to see the story behind the painting and it’s intriguing because they haven’t seen anything like it before. The people in the painting don't make eye contact with the viewer, only the nude lady does and I think it creates a mystery. The viewers are made to look at art differently. As you look at this painting you can see that the brush strokes are thicker and look unfinished. Having art that looked unfinished was out of the norm for viewers and it created the break in the traditional ways of creating art.
The nude woman in the painting creates so many questions for viewers. It is different to see a nude woman sitting next to two men that are dressed. It is also weird to see that she is the only one making eye contact with the viewers. Her facial expression is so calm. Her being so calm while she is naked sitting with two men is odd because you would think that she would be embarrassed or she would have more of an erotic expression. I think that Manet used this painting to push away from the norm and he did just that. He uses other objects throughout this painting that make a challenge for the viewer, from the food at the picnic, the bird in the sky, or the dressed lady in the background. You can tell that there is no naturalism to this painting because of the use of those thick brush strokes and the proportions of the lady in the background are unrealistic.
This painting was a struggle to understand and it was due to all these little elements. There seems to be no story behind why a naked lady is sitting calmly with two men that are fully clothed. I think that was Manet’s point though he wanted to create work that was pushing away from what was considered normal or traditional art.
Clip 1: http://youtu.be/WdwyoyyOipw (watch beginning of clip until 9:00)
Clip 2: http://youtu.be/kBHRJBlFdrc (watch beginning of clip until 4:10)
