Lovely.
There is a small, almost throwaway, scene in the movie Cradle Will Rock where Deco era Robber Barons (Rockefeller, et al.) decide to sponsor abstract art because it isn't so obviously political like Diego Rivera's.
As much as I love this art, I fear the scene rings true.
Ah! I’d heard that Jackson Pollock was secretly supported by the CIA. I read that the reason was to develop a specifically American style, but makes more sense that the motivation was to stop political protest without falling into Soviet-style realism.
I think it was to find an anti-Picasso and push the narrative that communism is incompatible with artistic innovation. May be more accurate to say supported the US art establishment, especially MoMA and Partisan Review. The artists didn’t know and it’s not just abstract expressionists, e.g. O’Keefe.
Comments
There is a small, almost throwaway, scene in the movie Cradle Will Rock where Deco era Robber Barons (Rockefeller, et al.) decide to sponsor abstract art because it isn't so obviously political like Diego Rivera's.
As much as I love this art, I fear the scene rings true.