[lbo-talk] Art and the CIA

[Arthur Maisel]

Personally, I think it's hilarious that they believed they were influencing
enough people to justify the line in the budget. Also, that it didn't occur
to them that U.S. cultural hegemony---enforced in the usual ways---might
create resentment, which their support would aggravate.

In the end it may have hastened the domestication of the art---to the point
where corporate designers would choose the travertine in the lobby to match
the Pollock. This ultimately killed the art by emphasizing its decorative
elements rather than the freedom it was created to embody. But the artists
got a nice ride, with high prices for their work---not a bad thing.

On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 4:04 PM, Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:


>
> These CIA guys were fairly high-domed, pitching to elite opinion. Thus,
> art.
>
>
> -----
>
> Yes. The emphasis was on abstract expressionism as evidence of FREEDOM in
> the FREE WORLD. I forget the details now, but the editor of Encounter
> cooperated with the CIA. Also the president (or some staff member) of the
> National Student Association.
>
> I can't remember any of the details, but I blew up about  some of this  at
> some English Department meeting or forum. It may have been by objecting to
> adoption of a textbook edited by one of the CIA "cultural warriors."
>
> Carrol
>
>
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