Topic: Shostakovich

During the Cold War, the CIA promoted modernist movements and abstract artists like Jackson Pollock to advance specific cultural agendas in the West. Conversely, the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin enforced "socialist realism," requiring composers like Shostakovich and Prokofiev to follow strict parameters. Despite these stipulations, Soviet artists often created genuine art, while the CIA-backed movement focused on promoting what Farrell describes as "ugliness" and anti-humanist abstraction.