Art During The Cold War

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During the period of time between 1947 & 1991, the United States of America experienced a political, social and cultural rivalry with the Soviet Union. This era is concerned to as “The Cold War” because even though the two nations fought each other directly there was no physical fighting involved. Rather, the two separate political agenda between U.S and Soviet Union (democratic and communist respectively), “fought” each other through the means of stopping each other’s administrative ideologies. Other than the tension caused by politics, the cultural differences caused by the unique ideas on the governing of society. One of the lesser-known impacts of the Cold War was art. In particular the avant-garde movement known as Abstract Expressionism, …show more content…

Painters like Jackson Pollock, Marc Rothko, and Willem de Kooning embodied the idea of intellectual and creative expression.
The pairing of art with politics allowed for a cultural exchange that created advertising for the “first world”. The patronage of the arts during the Cold War served as a step in America’s battle against communism. However, this was not the initial sentiment shared among political leaders in the country. Some political leaders did not support the Modern Art Movement because they found it swayed towards communist viewpoints. This was caused by the Second “Red” Scare which was started by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the late 40’s and 50’s. He accused many members of the United States State Department of either being communists or communist sympathizers. This created public fear of communism, which in turn affected the public’s view on Modern Art because many art galleries were funded by the government. In beginning Modern Art expeditions were defended because organizations such as the State Department itself; which previously was mentioned as being blamed for sympathy towards communism, considered them to be "social hazards" . This fear-based …show more content…

Thus, much of the public had not yet been exposed to the abstract Expressionism and did not have an opinion on it. This made it easier for the public to find interest and appreciation of the art movement because politics had not formed their opinions. Abstract Expressionist art was not a mass produced movement. Even though people still were interested in its value specifically the wealthy. For example, by the 1960’s when the avant-garde was being accepted in American Culture; billionaire David Rockefeller purchased Mark Rothko’s painting, White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose). Families like the Rockefeller’s had a unique connection with the art world not only because of their wealth but because of their interest. They also had connections because Nelson Rockefeller and Abby Rockefeller were trustees of the Museum of Modern Art. Having families like the Rockefeller’s as supporter’s shows that more people were interested in Modern Art. This can also be shown in the many art

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