tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589105760911453392.post260740381794450141..comments2024-03-17T09:48:51.194-07:00Comments on Art Contrarian: Greek-Letter MansionsDonald Pittengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11307228686847434740noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589105760911453392.post-61210231084157656542011-07-16T08:57:06.016-07:002011-07-16T08:57:06.016-07:00dearieme -- I thought the Surrender painting was a...dearieme -- I thought the Surrender painting was a cute concept.<br /><br />The CIA funded stuff not mentioned in Sailer's post including, if I remember the right title, <i>Paris Review</i>.<br /><br />As the material in the post suggests, funding certainly helped the artists in the sense of getting them increased publicity. Nothing said about actual purchases; did CIA money get laundered through key collectors? -- not likely, but possible.<br /><br />Again, the enhancement of the cause of Abstract Expressionism was probably marginal. The New York School would have become dominant anyway because it was the logical outcome of previous trends that had stalled for a while between the wars. (I'm drafting a book on spec dealing with that; probably won't see the light of day ever).<br /><br />As for the Cold War, I can't imagine any way the impact of this can be quantified, though it had to be a minor increment to awareness of Western cultural trends by Soviet intellectuals -- who had informal incluence as well as better access to information than the typical Russian. (And don't forget that the Sovs did their half of this cultural exchange thing, sending the Bolshoi west to do their dancing, etc.)<br /><br />As the Saunders quote suggested, all it was was a bit more grease on the skids for an inevitability.<br /><br />Whatever seems to be worry Steve doesn't worry me; there are far more important things to stew over these days.Donald Pittengerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11307228686847434740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589105760911453392.post-82207863244743213962011-07-16T05:15:36.896-07:002011-07-16T05:15:36.896-07:00There's a rum tale about American art at Mr Sa...There's a rum tale about American art at Mr Sailer's site. What do you make of it?<br /><br />http://isteve.blogspot.com/deariemenoreply@blogger.com