Avant la lettre
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Reverse Side of a Painting (1670) by Cornelis Norbertus Gysbrechts, an example of metapainting, postmodernism avant-la-lettre.

Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway (1844) by William Turner, Impressionism avant la lettre
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Featured: ![]() Kunstformen der Natur (1904) by Ernst Haeckel |
Avant la lettre (Latin ante litteram) is a French phrase used to describe something or someone seen as a precursor or forerunner of something (such as an artistic or political movement) before that something was recognized and named, e.g. "a post-modernist avant la lettre", "a feminist avant la lettre"; the expression literally means before the letter, i.e. "before it had a name". It is also called ahead of its time.
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