ABSTRACT
The USA had become involved in World War II and this traditionally isolationist country followed with more interest than ever before anything happening on the other side of the Atlantic. Perhaps as a result of this, the Europeanism of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was heightened even more, helping many artists who fled from Nazism and war and sought refuge in New York. Internal reports of the MoMA rush through the dismissal of Alfred Barr Jr and generally refer to it as his change of position within the institution, but it must have been the climax of a tough personal confrontation. The terms of Mrs. Rockefeller's donation to the MoMA were very generous. The museum was entitled to sell or exchange some works and retain all the works for twice the length of time proposed by Barr for transferring them to the Metropolitan Museum.
