Yup, underwrote some of the expenses. The USIA, which took over most of the
CIA's cultural (in this sense) functions and occasionally acted as a front
for the CIA in foreign countries, still does. I briefly toyed with becoming
an employee of USIA--this was before the Viet Nam war exploded. My job
would have been to produce and direct documentaries on Peace Corps
activities--well-digging and such--for use as propaganda of a rather benign
kind. The people who did those films never knew about the espionage
stuff--they had very low-level clearance--I mean I was given clearance, and
I was pretty out there behaviorally and politically.
No money, as I remember, went from the CIA to the artists per se, altho the
exhibitions certainly raised the selling prices of their paintings. A
strange way to support the arts, doing an end-run around an unwilling
congress. The USIA later came under congressional fire for wasting money on
culture.
At 01:00 PM 8/22/2000 +1000, you wrote:
>>What
>>umbrella group did they fund (assuming they weren't depositing cash in
>>Jackson Pollock's account)? Any details?
>
>I can't put my hand or mind on where I read it - more than one source,
>however, and I thought it was well known. I understand that the CIA
>financed major European exhibitions of the abstract expressionist
>artists, which introduced their work in Paris and London. I assume that
>the artists were paid for them, but perhaps I'm wrong.
>
>No doubt others have more details.
>
>Best
>
>A
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