Comment by coldtea | Hacker News Reader

Comment by coldtea | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

>I assume, abstract expressionism?

Yes, abstract expressionism, but also other mostly US-led scenes like pop art to a degree.

>Second, why would anyone fund specifically abstract expressionism and for what purpose given the diversity of art movements of that time?

It had a US lead at the time, easier to explain US institutions promoting and do cross-continent exchanges and sponsorships, and conveniently apolitical compared to other art movements of the time.

>Third, what do you even know about contemporary art of Europe to make such bold claims?

Quite a lot, being from here, and familiar with both their history and the relevant literature.

A hardly a bold claim at all, it has been studied and reported in books such as "The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters" (The New Press), "How New York Stole the Idea of Modern Art: Abstract Expressionism, Freedom, and the Cold War" (University of Chicago Press), "Pollock and After: The Critical Debate" (Harper Collins) and others, and of course the topic of TFA.

Your opposite claim would be the bold one.

So, on the question about your knowledge of European contemporary art you reply with the list of books about American art history, written and published in USA for American reader. Ok.

We're discussing the role of CIA, an American organization, in the Cold War era promotion of abstract expressionism ("modern art"). The books cover that, and have references to both the US and European side, artists and institutions.

The first book, which is also the canonical one on the subject, is not "written and published in USA for American reader". It's a book by a British historian, first published in the late 90s in Britain, then republished in the US (and all over Europe, there's German, French, Spanish etc versions).

The second book explicitly concerns the transition of power in the art scene and the interplay between Europe and the US in the same cold war period.

The third is broken in different essays, including one explicitly on "Abstract Expressionism, Weapon of the Cold War", and how it was used internationally.

All three are academic books, not some fringe conspiracy theories.

And these books, and others, have been translated, read, and discussed in Europe. I've read them, and hundred more on European 20th century art, which is besides the point, as most of the others are off topic, we're not discussing say Dada or Cubism or Arte Povera here, but something specific.

Anything to contribute besides being ad-hominem, wrong, and rude?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com