After the Avant-Gardes

the long version

For about a century, the doctrine has prevailed that interesting new work in the arts must be revolutionary, upsetting, and best of all, unintelligible. At first it was assumed that what was pioneered by the advance guard of innovators today would become accessible to a much broader public tomorrow. But now we have drifted into a state of permanent alienation between true lovers of the arts and the baffling performances of so-called contemporary artists. In After the Avant-Gardes, ten passionately involved observers, analysts, and critics of today's art world expound their thoughts on the current sorry predicament of the arts and the most promising avenues of future development. -- from back cover.