BEYOND IDEOLOGIES: UNITED STATES EXHIBITION STRATEGIES AT THE VENICE BIENNALE FROM 1948 TO 1958

Abstract

In this text the participation of the United Stated at the Venice Biennale from 1948 to 1958 will be analyzed. The analysis is based in reading of the antiAmerican oriented literature that created numerous misunderstandings about the role and the importance of the American Secret Services (USIS) in managing the United States Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and in creating the Abstract Expressionist art movement. Starting from a critical reconsideration of the archival sources, I will demonstrate that the United States considered both abstract and realist art as representatives of their national culture until 1956.