The Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes - Softcover

Kostelanetz, Richard; Carlin, Richard

3.71

28 ratings by Goodreads

9781556522024: The Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1556522029 ISBN 13: 9781556522024

Publisher: A Cappella Books, 1993

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Covers avant-garde artists and styles among the visual and performing arts from 1850 through the present

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About the Author:

Richard Kostelanetz is a world-renowned authority on the avant-garde arts, the author of over 25 critical works and over 45 anthologies. He is also a published poet, filmmaker, video and radio artist, and creator of multimedia works. He is a long-time resident of New York's Soho district.

From Booklist:

In the words of the author, a prolific writer and student of avant-garde topics, "this book was written not just to be consulted but to be read from beginning to end." It draws upon his knowledge of literature, art, architecture, performing arts, movements, and esthetics. He is admittedly opinionated in his judgment of artists and their works. The artists included are mainly twentieth century, with no birth date earlier than Edward Lear's (1812). They include such well-known subjects as Muybridge, Bierce, and Stravinsky and such contemporary figures as environmental-artist Christo and performance-artist Laurie Anderson. The entries for Kinetic Art, Serial Music, Mixed-Means Theater, Zaum (poetry), SoHo, and Something Else Press create a rich image of a period.

Entries are alphabetically arranged, with dates and alternative names. The work is highly readable. One entry leads to another quite seamlessly through the use of asterisks placed after the mention of related entries (e.g., Slonimsky, Nicholas leads to Var{Š}ese, Edgard; Ives, Charles; Dada; and Constructivism). There are cross-references to appropriate headings, "Kovacs, Ernie see Television." Most entries include one or more references at the end, and the "Postface" includes a bibliography of 19 works consulted. The initials of nine scholars, authors, and critics appear on the entries they have contributed. Small black-and-white photographs add interest.

This work is shaped by names so familiar that, in some cases, they no longer seem avant-garde: Eisenstein in film, James Joyce in literature, Merce Cunningham in dance, Buckminster Fuller in architecture, Mary Quant in fashion, Allen Ginsberg in poetry. Some entries, such as Futurism (Russian), lead to numerous related entries that may be less familiar.

This small volume, bringing together a wealth of information on esthetic innovation, will make avant-garde art more accessible to everyone and will be a welcome addition to art reference collections.

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