Embracing the Unorthodox: Manet and Duchamp’s Challenge against Institutions through Exhibitions

The definition of art has never been broader than it is today. In the past, institutional rhetorics regarding the boundaries of art have shaped  artists’ career paths and the popular recognition of their works. Although these rhetorics are still relevant today, the modern, inclusive definition of art would never have been possible if not for pioneering artists who challenged the institutional definitions of art in the 19th century. Artists like Edouard Manet and Marcel Duchamp acted as catalysts for the democratization of art as they moved beyond these boundaries. From Le Déjeuner sur l´herbe to Fountain,  the impressionist to the conceptual statement, Manet and Duchamp each navigated their way through institutional barriers and public suspicion with their impressive works of avant-garde.

During Manet's time, the Parisian salons dictated the boundaries and definitions of art, and the public deemed any work rejected from these salons as non-art due to their deviation from the mainstream artistic values. Nonetheless, Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l´herbe challenged this monopoly. With its flat portrayal of characters, the absence  of shadows, and the use of nudity, Manet unintentionally defied the institutions. As art historian Linda Nochlin claims, it was the “sincerity” in his work, the lack of dimensionality and blatant nakedness, that disagreed with the public and its institutional taste The dialogue and controversy stemming from and publicized by its rejection from mainstream exhibitions sparked the flame for Manet's challenge of these dominating art definitions. By accepting Le Déjeuner sur l´herbe, the 1863 exhibition at Le Salon des Refusés completed Manet's unintended yet fateful challenge, marking the beginning of avant-garde. 

Duchamp’s Fountain received its rejection from an exhibition in 1917 by the Society of Independent Artists, an organization that sought to showcase non-mainstream art in New York. The “obscenity” and “vulgarness” of Fountain shocked even the most independent and open-minded artists at the time. Duchamp’s first-ever readymade fueled the public discussion of authorship and skillfulness, which were common doubts on abstract art at the time. The process of producing Duchamp’s conceptual art required little conventional artistic skill as the works primarily focused on objects of mass production. This deviation from traditional processes made the audience question if conceptual art could be created by anyone. The borders between art and everyday objects and the distinction between the ordinary person and the artist became gradually blurry as Duchamp’s works continued to gain influence. While it is still unclear if Duchamp took Manet’s challenge against institutional standards to a higher level;  he not only pushed the limits of these c definitions but also untethered art from social and institutional constructs altogether, creating his own conventions and rules in his readymades. He simultaneously empowered and antagonized the public, pushing them to redefine their perception of art . For example, in Duchamp’s The Creative Act, the spectator brings the artist's work in contact with the external world as they interpret its inner qualifications. 

As unorthodox artists like Manet and Duchamp broadened their scales of influence, they promoted public debate regarding the boundaries of art and exposed the audience to brand new practices that propelled redefinitions of terms such as skillfulness and authorship. No longer is there an institution that dictates the artistic identity of a piece of work. Instead, the public and the artists act as independent agents in this domain as they decide their own artistic preferences and keep expanding the borders of art. Thanks to artists like Manet and Duchamp, art has embraced its core quality of subjectivity. It is in individual creativity and limitless possibilities that our artistic universe continues to grow and prosper.

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