2 April - Jazz and Art -- Individual Expression

Last lesson, we discussed the general "individual vs. collective" divide that existed between the West and the East during the Cold War. And I noted that there were many examples of types of cultural expression banned behind the Iron Curtain. One example I offered up was jazz. I played a little Miles Davis for Sa2 but not for Ek2. Here's Miles Davis's 1959 album "Kind of Blue," an icon in jazz history. Enjoy.

I also mentioned art, but I didn't provide any examples. Below are some images of American art of the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. Often, art of this sort was exhibited around the world during the 1950s and 1960s through the efforts of both private organizations and the U.S. government, in part because it was believed to help present a positive view of American life and culture -- particularly in comparison to the restrictions put on artists behind the Iron Curtain.

Here are some examples of Abstract Expressionism

Mark Rothko

Jackson Pollock

Barnett Newman

David Smith

Robert Motherwell

Jackson Pollock

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And here are artists of the late 1950s and 1960s -- but that were not Abstract Expressionists:

Robert Rauschenberg's Monogram. This work is one of the crown jewels of the Moderna Museet, in Stockholm.

Jasper Johns, Target

Robert Rauschenberg, Factum I and II

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And here are some examples of Pop Art of the 1960s

Claes Odenburg, Floor Cake

Andy Warhol, Marilyn

Andy Warhol, Campbell Soup Cans