Abstract Expressionism as Cold War Propaganda

            Abstract Expressionism was the first major art movement in America. It brought the international art scene from Paris to New York City. Despite being created by many European immigrants, Abstract Expressionism is thought of representing America and it’s ideals.

            Abstract Expressionism is hard to categorize. One of the most famous painters, Jackson Pollock, is known for his technique of action painting. Pollock’s canvases were taken off of their easels and instead placed on the ground where he would pour or splash paint on them. Often times, things like cigarettes would get caught into his paintings but Pollock would continue painting over them. His work was less about what the end product looked like but instead about the process of making it. This particular style and technique caused Pollock’s creations to look chaotic and almost aggressive.

Jackson Pollock Action Painting

However, there were many other abstract expressionist techniques. Mark Rothko is known for his paintings that utilized Color Field techniques. At first glance, his work seems simple. He painted giant shapes in seemingly solid colors. Yet, the work was very complex. Rothko wanted to evoke big picture ideas through the usage of color. The more that the viewer looked at the paintings, the more they could experience different emotions from the different colors and how they work together. 

Mark Rothko Number 7

            Unlike work from past art movements, both Pollock and Rothko’s work lacked subject matter. This was evident in most abstract expressionism but, having a subject matter did not mean that the work was not abstract expressionist. Willem de Kooning’s series Women obviously depicted women. However, the way that he showed women was unlike any previous art movement. His broad and angry brush strokes, which are a sign of abstract expressionism, made the paintings of women look angry and less idealized than most artistic portrayals of women. There was something angry and evocative of this series.  All abstract Expressionist paintings were emotional and evocative which was most likely an effect of the time period they were created in.

 

Willem de Kooning Two Women in the Country

            Post World War II and early Cold War was an anxious time for Americans. The tension between the U.S. and the USSR caused a lot of fear among their people. Cold war politics involved a lot of arguments between the two countries. They became involved in arguments over nuclear weapons, the space race, and proxy wars in Korea, Vietnam, and other countries. These disagreements between the countries were not just over military and economic power but also because each country felt threatened by the other’s ideology. The U.S. was afraid of communism spreading around the world and making it difficult for a democratic nation. The USSR was afraid of the same thing. Both countries believed that the other was working to take down their own country, so they continued to fight and disagree with each other until the Soviet Unions fall in 1990. 

            During the Cold War, propaganda was used to draw people in to certain ideologies. The U.S. primarily used radio and movies to showcase American ideals. However, Americans saw another place to spread their democratic capitalist ideals when they noticed Soviet Realism. Soviet Realism was the major artistic movement of the Soviet Union. It was painted realistically and depicted anything that glorified communism.  Most often it portrayed working class people doing something that could portray their rise to prominence and power in Soviet society. Despite the mixed reaction some Americans had about Abstract Expressionism, they often viewed as being too radical, the United States Information Agency realized that this major art movement could be used to spread American ideas abroad. The work between Pollock, Rothko, de Kooning, and a plethora of other abstract expressionists was incredibly varied and used unusual techniques that had never been used before this movement. This variation perfectly captured the American idea of freedom to do whatever you wanted. The American artists who painted on the floor and did not even have a subject matter was a drastic contrast to the Soviet artists who were only allowed to portray things that made Stalin look good.

            The USIA and International Council of the Museum of Modern Arts began to coordinate exhibits with American Abstract Expressionist art to portray these American ideologies around the world.  One of the three major exhibits was centered on Pollock it was called Jackson Pollock 1912-1956. This exhibit portrayed Pollock as a Europeanized painter in the hopes of getting Europeans to appreciate American artists and feel closer to American ideals. Both this and another major exhibition, The New American Painting, circulated around eight European cities. The New American Painting was a large exhibit that included many American and European abstract expressionists. The combination of the different artists was supposed to show how close their works are and therefore how similar Western ideals were. These and the many other exhibitions were a success for America. People who viewed the exhibitions easily saw the similarities between American ideals of freedom and independence and the European philosophy of existentialism.  

 

Jackson Pollock Number 8

            As the Cold War ended, the need to use Abstract Expressionism as propaganda also ended. Propaganda did not really affect the end of the Cold War. It really was the USSR’s economy that ended the war. However, American art and politics continued on in separate directions, American ideals remained the same but now politics were slightly more optimistic and focused on new problems while Pop Art replaced Abstract Expressionism as the major avant-garde art movement.