How New York Stole the Idea of Modern Art

Serge Guilbaut's "How New York Stole Modern Art Thought," a critique of the avant-garde's claim to autonomy, tells the intriguing story of the anti-Stalinist and Trotskyite journey to 'art for art's sake' in American culture and art. Guilbaut examines the network of art and politics behind the scenes of the American cultural world.

How did the center of world art move from Paris to New York?

Were there only artistic reasons behind the great success of American Abstract Expressionism after World War II?

Did liberal America, the 'land of freedoms,' consciously support abstract art?

Was its government's stance during the Cold War a deliberate art policy?

A mirror held up to recent art history, an extraordinary reading of art history.