ABSTRACT
Seen from the United States, Soviet state-sanctioned Socialist Realism was associated with restrictions on personal freedom, serving to dehumanize the new Cold War enemy. As the Cold War entered a new era, art was thrust to the forefront of competition between the rival superpowers. While American and Soviet diplomats were negotiating the terms of the treaty, an “unofficial” program of Soviet–American exchange was already under way. The New York-based National Council of American–Soviet Friendship and the American Russian Institute in San Francisco had a particularly keen interest in the visual arts, sharing reports and sending art books, catalogs, and original artworks in exchange for equivalent materials and information on Soviet art. For the circle of artists known as the Moscow Conceptualists, American art writing would have an especially strong influence. The American National Exhibition contained a gallery dedicated to visual art, in addition to a small group of outdoor sculptures in the grounds.
