Volume 18, Issue 2, Autumn 2013
Russian Philosophy
Maxim Kantor
Pages 139-168
The Renaissance versus the Avant-Garde
The essay contrasts two recurring phenomena of European culture: renaissance and avant-garde. The author discusses the paradigmatic Renaissance of 15ᵗʰ and 16ᵗʰ centuries and the paradigmatic Avant-Garde of early 20ᵗʰ century from the point of view of a practicing artist, interested in philosophical, social, religious,
and political involvements of artists and their creation. The author shows the artistic and social history of 20ᵗʰ century as a struggle between the Avant-Garde and the Renaissance ideals, which, as he points out, found a fertile ground in in the 20 years that followed immediately the Second World War.