Fascism Vs Communism

While the anti-fascist movement initiated by the Popular Front did not directly end the spread of fascism, it achieved its goal in uniting artists for a political cause and set the precedent for the abstract expressionism movement to do the same against communism. Immediately following the Second World War, the United States experienced a major shift away from the progressive New Deal era to a more conservative era. The ideology of social responsibility ushered in by the various reform programs of the New Deal was replaced by a renewed emphasis on the individual’s opportunity for success. Under a conservative mindset, individual freedom, free enterprise, and new internationalism became the new hallmarks of American democracy. These individualistic qualities were in direct …show more content…
However, the proposal failed to gain support among the nation during a time period characterized by a fear of communism, domestic paranoia, and McCarthyism. In 1947, a traveling exhibition of contemporary art titled “Advancing American Art” was put together by the State Department in an effort to display the freedom of expression for artists living in a democracy such as the United States. The cultural diplomacy project was quickly shot down by the media, politicians, and public alike who denounced the exhibition as communistic and un-American. In a letter to Assistant Secretary of State William Brenton, President Harry S Truman stated, “…modern art is merely the vaporings of half-baked lazy people. There is no art at all in connection with the modernists, in my opinion.” Despite the rejection of the modern art style by the American people, high-level officials in Washington recognized that abstract expressionism was still the preeminent art form capable of representing the United States’ democracy and