Exploring the Territories of the Avant-garde: Ivan Aguéli and the Institutions of His Time

Abstract

e canonical idea of a late-nineteenth century modernist artist traveling throughout Europe is one of autonomy, individuality, and innovation. 1 is is mirrored in modernism's historiography since the canon creates a reciprocal and symbiotic relationship between cultural signi cance and scholarship. 2 Ivan Aguéli's established place in cultural history has followed this pattern: it is that of a lonely explorer of art and spirituality, a free-thinking intellectual positioned outside institutions. 3 A er his untimely death in 1917, Ivan Aguéli bequeathed to the world not only a ne collection of small paintings but also a wealth of mostly unpublished texts, in several languages, on art and on spiritual matters. is has inspired scholars to investigate the link between these two corpora, not least how his texts could help us understand his painting. 4 However, I will here suggest another approach to the topic: instead of making connections between his paintings and his theories, this chapter will focus on the strategic aspects of Aguéli's choices and paths. 5 ey were, as I will argue, connected to speci c parts of the historical avant-garde, a concept that will be examined further. I will position Aguéli's work in the space of European modernism, with an emphasis on cultural transfer and mobility. While doing this, I will highlight how he made himself public, that is, how and to which extent he appeared in publications, exhibitions, and public arenas of di erent kinds. Paying close attention to the public positions he took through his work and actions, as opposed to his authorial intentions, reveals an image of an artist deeply embedded in particular networks and institutions of his time.Paris's dominant position in European cultural life is o en accepted as natural, so that its impact for cultural production at times becomes invisible. is has been the case in connection with Aguéli, whose life and work have instead o en been explained in terms of his more remote and unusual destinations-Egypt, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and India. Aguéli rst arrived in Paris as a 21-year-old in 1890, and before exploring his paths there as professional and social strategies, I will discuss the cultural situation that a move to Paris involved and the theoretical framework this suggests.New art history has emerged in new geopolitical research elds that approach the concept of the dominance of Paris in alternative ways. 6 My work is linked to this 9781350177895_txt_prf.indd 33 11/28/2020 5:44:22 PM