Avant-Garde Challenge?

When something is Avant-Garde it means that it is different, that it goes beyond the borders of normality and what is acceptable by society. Avant-Garde challenges the viewers of the piece of art to look outside what society says is right and wrong, acceptable and not. Avant-Garde can appear to be confusing, and even mind boggling because of how strained a story might appear within the art work. Yet the art work tells a story in an abstract way, one to make people think and wonder why it was painted and what the meaning really is.

Manet's painting challenged the viewer to look beyond the whole canvas and instead look at details and hints of what the artwork could be about. In the clips , Manet's woodland background was described as a "back drop because there is no depth to the woods." In the second clip it was shown that Manet "incorporated a message in his art by painting a frog that was looking away from the picnic."  Manet's painting is not all that obvious when trying to see why there is a naked woman in the setting. However, upon search and looks given by the naked woman, it almost appears like she is the mistress to the man.