Overview

“Art has poisoned our life”, proclaimed De Stijl co-founder Theo van Doesburg. Reacting to the tumultuous crises of the twentieth century, especially the horrors of the First World War, from Paris to New York, from Zurich to Moscow and Berlin, avant-gardists challenged the confines of the definition of art along with the confines of the canvas itself. Morgan Falconer starts with the dynamic Futurist founder Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, whose manifesto extolling speed, destruction and modernity seeded avant-gardes across Europe. In turn, Dadaists Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings sought to replace art with political cabaret and the Surrealists tried to exchange it for tools to plumb the unconscious. Falconer goes on to guide us through the Russian Constructivists and then De Stijl, the Bauhaus and finally, the Situationists. How to Be Avant-Garde is a journey through the interlocking networks of richly creative lives, their sometimes sympathetic but often strange and turbulent conversations, and their objects and writings that defied categorisation.

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9781324123330

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Reviews

""From André Breton to Robert Smithson, the book nimbly threads the stories of many figures into a coherent and pleasurable read… With a talent for setting the scene and rendering vivid portraits, Falconer brings the stories of these artists, each with conflicting agendas, into one comprehensible argument."" -- Aaron Peck - The Times Literary Supplement ""The book rushes readers at a velocity Marinetti would have enjoyed.… [F]ascinating."" -- Orlando Whitfield - The New York Times ""A group biography of the modern artists who at one point or another had enough of the artistic status quo.… [B]eing avant-garde, Mr. Falconer reminds us, meant going yet further and abandoning art as traditionally conceived."" -- Max Norman - The Wall Street Journal

[A] group biography of the modern artists who at one point or another had enough of the artistic status quo... [B]eing avant-garde, Mr. Falconer reminds us, meant going yet further and abandoning art as traditionally conceived.--Max Norman ""Wall Street Journal"" [A]n engrossing survey, full of colorful characters and winning personal touches... [Falconer] takes readers on a tour of last century's most radical avant-garde movements.--Michael Patrick Brady ""Boston Globe"" From André Breton to Robert Smithson, the book nimbly threads the stories of many figures into a coherent and pleasurable read... [A] talent for setting the scene and rendering vivid portraits.--Aaron Peck ""Times Literary Supplement"" Morgan Falconer is the pitch-perfect cheering but skeptical guide through the intricacies, infighting, backbiting, dead ends, crazy schemes, mad ideas, wild leaps, and triumphs of the avant-garde.--Jerry Saltz, Pulitzer Prize winner and best-selling author of How to Be an Artist The book rushes readers at a velocity [Filippo Tommaso] Marinetti would have enjoyed... What's fascinating in Falconer's brief studies of these avant-gardists is how, in stark contrast to many artists today, their art-making seemed to exist outside the context of the market.--Orlando Whitfield ""New York Times"" With entertaining asides about his own experiences as critic, scholar, and maker of art, Falconer offers a vivid picture of the fervent efforts of artists questioning the meaning of art itself. A well-informed, spirited cultural history.--Kirkus Reviews, starred review How to Be Avant-Garde can take its place alongside such mainstays as Roger Shattuck's The Banquet Years and Robert Hughes's The Shock of the New as a lively and thought-provoking survey of the twentieth century's most impactful contribution to cultural life.--Mark Polizzotti, author of Why Surrealism Matters A future classic along the lines of Lipstick Traces, one of those books that anyone hoping to bring true newness into the world will find and pass along like a shibboleth to others seeking the same.--Mark Braude, author of Kiki Man Ray Chock full of engaging details and anecdotes, Morgan Falconer's book takes us on a lively romp through many of the locales where twentieth-century vanguard figures sought to create a new relationship between art and life. How to be Avant-Garde should appeal both to those in search of a good read and to those intrigued by the vexing question of what it all meant.--Jerrold Seigel, author of Bohemian Paris and The Private Worlds of Marcel Duchamp What is art for? How to Be Avant-Garde examines what happened when the horrors of World War I made it clear that the traditional answer?that it's for making rich people's homes nicer?could no longer apply. Maybe art's time was up? Maybe it should no longer exist at all? Why was art between the wars so vivid and interesting? Read How to Be Avant-Garde and find out.""--Ruth Brandon, author of Spellbound by Marcel: Duchamp, Love, and Art

""A group biography of the modern artists who at one point or another had enough of the artistic status quo.… [B]eing avant-garde, Mr. Falconer reminds us, meant going yet further and abandoning art as traditionally conceived."" -- Max Norman - Wall Street Journal ""The book rushes readers at a velocity Marinetti would have enjoyed.… [F]ascinating."" -- Orlando Whitfield - New York Times ""Nimbly threads the stories of many figures into a coherent and pleasurable read.… A talent for setting the scene and rendering vivid portraits."" -- Aaron Peck - Times Literary Supplement ""Morgan Falconer is the pitch-perfect cheering but skeptical guide through the intricacies, infighting, backbiting, dead ends, crazy schemes, mad ideas, wild leaps, and triumphs of the avant-garde."" -- Jerry Saltz, Pulitzer Prize winner and best-selling author of How to Be an Artist ""Chock full of engaging details and anecdotes, Morgan Falconer’s book takes us on a lively romp through many of the locales where twentieth-century vanguard figures sought to create a new relationship between art and life. How to be Avant-Garde should appeal both to those in search of a good read and to those intrigued by the vexing question of what it all meant."" -- Jerrold Seigel, author of Bohemian Paris and The Private Worlds of Marcel Duchamp ""What is art for? How to Be Avant-Garde examines what happened when the horrors of World War I made it clear that the traditional answer—that it’s for making rich people’s homes nicer—could no longer apply. Maybe art’s time was up? Maybe it should no longer exist at all? Why was art between the wars so vivid and interesting? Read How to Be Avant-Garde and find out."" -- Ruth Brandon, author of Spellbound by Marcel: Duchamp, Love, and Art ""A future classic along the lines of Lipstick Traces, one of those books that anyone hoping to bring true newness into the world will find and pass along like a shibboleth to others seeking the same."" -- Mark Braude, author of Kiki Man Ray ""How to Be Avant-Garde can take its place alongside such mainstays as Roger Shattuck’s The Banquet Years and Robert Hughes’s The Shock of the New as a lively and thought-provoking survey of the twentieth century’s most impactful contribution to cultural life."" -- Mark Polizzotti, author of Why Surrealism Matters ""With entertaining asides about his own experiences as critic, scholar, and maker of art, Falconer offers a vivid picture of the fervent efforts of artists questioning the meaning of art itself. A well-informed, spirited cultural history."" -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Author Information

Morgan Falconer, a critic and art historian, teaches at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. He is the author of Painting Beyond Pollock and has written for publications including the Economist, the Times (UK), Art in America, and Frieze. He lives in Queens, New York.

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