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this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
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My theory is, the US in the early Cold War was still figuring out the soft power, cultural spread of ideology thing in the context of the new, dual superpower world order. So there was a, throw shit against the wall and see what sticks approach. The covert support of abstract expressionism was one of them; there was a similar program with creative literature. Abstract Expressionism probably looked like a viable candidate as it was new, had a flair of the intellectual to appeal to the cultural elite, position American creatives as breaking ground the stodgy, old fashioned Europeans weren’t touching.
That being said, I don’t think that the CIA wholesale invented abstract expressionism, nor that the artists themselves thought of their work as, directly or indirectly, propaganda pieces for the CIA. It was just The Man leveraging the hot new thing of the moment.
Yeah the book I was reading said the artists did not necessarily know they were being used for propaganda. Some of them were nominally anti-gov, too. But outside of direct interviews which may not exist, I don't know if we can know for sure. Funny lil coinky dink, really gets my noggin jogging, Pollock was killed in a car crash. Not exactly a strange death in the US, but
E: I read he was visiting Europe when he died. Trying not to be too conspiracy brained. Just thought it was worth mentioning
There are some figures in the abstract expressionism movement that were questioned about it. They said the artists had no knowledge, but then again if I were a CIA op that’s exactly what I would say.
Oh yeah also, immediately after his death the Met museum "acquired" all of his remaining works