Fascinating article. With each passing day, how we have been manipulated in every facet of our lives becomes more and more apparent. I am filled with wonder at it all.
Unsettling, isn't it? And most artists, myself included, are always so (here's a good Italian expression) morto di fame, so dead of hunger, they'll bite.
Interesting, but I find myself wondering how much of the Abstract Expressionism found its way to the average Russian fully invested in their day to day survival?
Feb 7, 2022·edited Feb 7, 2022Liked by Stacey Eskelin
I've known about this story for a little while now, and have been amused by it from the first. Of all the painterly art forms, Abstract Expressionism is one that "connects" with me the least. Pollack and Koontz look like a rabid chimpanzee was unleashed in the paint store, while Rothko makes me think of the scene from Steve Martin's "LA Story":
It is odd, in a way, that soviet composers (at least as the '50's wore on) exercised so much more "experimental"(?) choice in their compositions. Thus, Shostakovitch's 14th sounds (to me) like somebody strangling a cat while, say, Leonard Bernstein's work remains throughout "classically Romantic."
Fascinating article. With each passing day, how we have been manipulated in every facet of our lives becomes more and more apparent. I am filled with wonder at it all.
Unsettling, isn't it? And most artists, myself included, are always so (here's a good Italian expression) morto di fame, so dead of hunger, they'll bite.
Interesting, but I find myself wondering how much of the Abstract Expressionism found its way to the average Russian fully invested in their day to day survival?
Oh, I don't think it was ever intended for them. This was lobbed straight at the heads of the Politburo.
I've known about this story for a little while now, and have been amused by it from the first. Of all the painterly art forms, Abstract Expressionism is one that "connects" with me the least. Pollack and Koontz look like a rabid chimpanzee was unleashed in the paint store, while Rothko makes me think of the scene from Steve Martin's "LA Story":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsN40iv5nzg
It is odd, in a way, that soviet composers (at least as the '50's wore on) exercised so much more "experimental"(?) choice in their compositions. Thus, Shostakovitch's 14th sounds (to me) like somebody strangling a cat while, say, Leonard Bernstein's work remains throughout "classically Romantic."
You're not alone! Most people dislike Abstract Expressionism, even violently. I love it, but I'm peculiar. In a lot of ways.