That is a total misunderstanding of the purpose behind CIA's promotion of abstract expressionism. The purpose was to win hearts and minds among intellectuals an

That is a total misunderstanding of the purpose behind CIA's promotion of abstract expressionism. The purpose was to win hearts and minds among intellectuals and the culturally inclined outside the US, and it worked very well. Together with stuff like jazz music it vastly increased the cultural prestige of the US during the cold war.