I hypothesize that, between 1950 and 1967, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used abstract art as a PsyOp tool of psychological warfare to undermine the American mind. This was done through their subordinate group, the Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF), to enable the Agency to manage the American public.
Their problem was how to brainwash Americans who were traditionally known for their clearsightedness, confident independence, and optimism. The CIA chose to undercut those values by creating a psychological disconnect, and abstract art was their tool for doing this.
The CIA and CCF used museums, philanthropists, foundations, magazines (both popular and literary), artists, musicians, critics, and intellectuals for their propaganda. Their stated aim was to win the cultural cold war against the USSR; anything that was “anti-communist” was unimpeachable. Their idea was to promote new American art, literature, and music, with the slant that it represented freedom. This art, specificall…