| Pollock and After | The Critical Debate ‘Second Edition | ied by Francis Frascina 3 1336 05418 4099 Silko, Ps fe SAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY st * MISSION VALLEY BRANCH ee London and New Yorkde Nem, Ocwber, Samer, 1987 Chapter 7 Eva Cockcroft ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM, WEAPON OF THE COLD WAR UNDERSTAND WAY A particular art morement become sucesfl under alten set of historical cirimetances requles an ex the seats of patronage and the idcologial needs ofthe powerful. During the Rensance and eater, patronage ofthe arte wen hand a hand with oficial per Artand artists occupied a leary defined place in the sil structre ad Sere specie fonctions in scot. Aer the Indus Revolution, withthe decline ofthe scales, development ofthe gallery system, and rit of te maseuims, the oe of russ became les clearly defined, and the object atte faxbioned increasingly became part of 2 general Now af commodities i 3 markt economy. Arie, no lange having direct contact with the patrons of the arts, eine Hele or no contol svorthe dppston of thei wor nn rejecting the materialise values of bourgeois roety and indulging bn the myth tht they could exist ently outside the dominant cukure sn bohemian ‘neives, want garde atts generally refused to recogni or accept thee rule a rodaces ofa cultural commodity” Ars rel, expel inthe United Sates many rts abdicated responailty both othr omn sonoml nterest aid othe was nation of {o which tel artwork as put ser entered the makeplcs, large their role to Become mote thin mere pot tori of pst srt, and began to exhibit and collet contemporary art, Particle In the United Steer, mazcume bocame a dominant fet on the art scene, In ‘many ways, American maeums came to fll the role ef ecil patronage — but without accountability to anyone but themselves. The U.S. muscarn, nls its European counterpart, developed primarily a» priate institution, Founded and supported bythe glans of industry and finance, American museums ere ftp On the model f thelr corporate parents. To this dy they ate governed largely by ell perpetuating boards of trues composed primarily of rich donors Ie i these Museums, fr tel part, ‘se Ane xref the Cl er dfn, 2-1, per Reply pm a i er fos148 eva cookcnorr boards of trates ~ often the same ‘prominent clizes” who control banks sd ‘orportions and help shape the formltion of farsi policy — which umstely ‘etermine museum policy, hie and fire directors, and to which th profesional ffs held accountable. Examination of the rsngwiceesof Abstract Eapessonsm fn America after World War therefore, ental cosieration ofthe role of the leading museum of contemporary art ~ The Muscum of Modern Art (MOMA) and the ideclgial needs of it ices daring pri of virulent antcommaniom al an ixenaying ‘cold wa In an article ened ‘American Pantag During the Cold War publihed in the May, 1973 issue of dram, Max Koda! pointe out the simiary becen ‘id war short and the ay many: Absit Expres art phrased their existent individual crete, However, Kodlel fill to examine ‘the fll import ofthis seri nsigh, cling inead at "his wat a colnedenee tat must surely have gone snneticed euler and le alike" Not. Links betwen eltral cold war plies andthe yea -ExprEIog lum ar by no means coincidental or unnoticeable, They ny eongoul large te time by some of the most induentlFigorercontroldg-miseupolces and docatng enlightened cold war tats derigned to woo Europea intelectual “The pola relatonship between Abstract Expression and the cold waren ‘be cealy perceived through the tternationl programs of MOMA. Asa tastemsker fn the sphere of contemporary American ar, the Impact of MOMA ~ 3 major opporterof the Abstract Expression movement ~ can hardy be oretestinate In this content, he fact that MOMA har always been & Reckfeller-dominated inst, tion becomes particularly relevant (ther mies financing the muscur, akhough to a lesser extent thin the Rockefeller, incude the Whitnys, Paley, Bes, Warburg, and Lewisohn) MOMA was founded in 1929, mainly rough the efforts of brs, John D. Rockefeller, jn 1939, Nelson Rockefeller bees president of MOMA. Although Nelson vacated the MOMA presdeny in 1940 to become Pretlent Roonevels wortnator of the Ofice of Incr American Asis and later stan sseetary of sute for Latin American ars, he domasted the muscu throyghout the 19404 snd 1950s, returning to MOMA's presidency in 1946 Inthe 1960s and (9704 Daxsd Rockefeller and irs. John D. Rockefller, 3rd, assumed the responsibilty of the museum forthe family, At these time, almost every sceretary of ste air the end of World War Il rght upto the present, as been a indvial tained aed groomed by the various foundations and agencies conrelled or mansged bythe Rockefellers. The development of American col war pice was dey shaped by the Rockefeller in pariclr and by expanding corporations and ban a general (@ssid Rockfelleris alo charman of the board of Chase Manhattan Baty the Financial enter of the Rockefeller dynasty), The invlsement of The Muscum of Modern Artin Ameria foreign policy became unmistakably clear during World War In June, 1941 a Central Pres wie story chimed MOMA asthe ‘atest and strangest recruit n Uncle Sam's defense line-up.’ The sory quoted the Chairman ofthe Mucus Bord of Tastes, Jon ay Whitne on how the Museum could serve a wespon for national defeaeto hci, Inspr and strengthen the heart nd wile of fee men a defers af elt ‘own feedom." Whitney spet the ar years working forthe Ofice of Sewege