I’ve been reading a book about abstract expressionism, and one part really made me laugh. I am a nerd, so I’m not sure if others will find this as amusing as I did, but I felt I would share anyhow.
The amusing part of the book was about how modern art was shackled to communism back in the early days, and the proof of that was summed up succinctly by a speech from Congressman George Dondero in 1949:
“As I have previously stated, art is considered a weapon of communism, and the Communist doctrinaire names the artist as a soldier of the revolution. It is a weapon in the hands of a soldier in the revolution against our form of government, and against any government or system other than communism….
The art of the isms, the weapon of the Russian Revolution, is the art which has been transplanted to America, and today, having infiltrated and saturated many of our art centers, threatens to overawe, override and overpower the fine art of our tradition and inheritance. So-called modern or contemporary art in our own beloved country contains all the isms of depravity, decadence, and destruction.
What are these isms that are the very foundation of so-called modern art? …. I call the roll of infamy without claim that my list is all-inclusive: dadaism, futurism, constructionism, suprematism, cubism, expressionism, surrealism, and abstractionism. All these isms are of foreign origin, and truly should have no place in American art.”
So apparently, all my favorite artforms are communist weapons lol. Who knew? Just label me a Russian agent I guess.
Maranda Russell 
The funny thing is that most communist nations and the Nazi’s found abstract and surrealist art “decadent” and said it was an enemy of the people. So art is so powerful, it’s a threat to every -ism. And yet it thrives where governments and systems fail. It saves us over and over.
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Yeah. That is amusing. It is crazy how things like this are such a huge issues at one time or another and then later they just make us laugh because they seem so ridiculous! I agree, art is often our saving grace!
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Not just Reds under the bed, they are hanging on the walls now too. One day politicians will learn to engage their brains before opening their mouths but not in Trumps America!
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LOL too true and rather scary to think about (Trumps America)
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