"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world." - Ephesians 6:12
What if the "modern art" that fills museums, universities, and galleries around the world wasn't simply the organic evolution of artistic expression? What if it was deliberately created, funded, and promoted as a psychological weapon?
This is not conspiracy theory - it's documented history.
The Declassified Truth
In the 1990s and 2000s, documents were declassified revealing that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) secretly funded and promoted modern art as part of its Cold War strategy. What was sold as "freedom of expression" was actually calculated propaganda.
Key Questions:
Why would an intelligence agency care about art?
What made Abstract Expressionism so useful for their purposes?
Who funded and promoted these artists?
What was the real agenda behind "modern art"?
Why does this still matter today?
1The Cold War Cultural Battle
After World War II, the United States and Soviet Union engaged in ideological warfare. The battleground wasn't just military - it was cultural.
Soviet Cultural Strategy
The USSR promoted "Socialist Realism" - art showing heroic workers, collective farming, communist ideals. Art had to serve the state and be accessible to ordinary people. Abstract or "degenerate" art was banned.
American Dilemma
The US wanted to prove that America represented "freedom" - including artistic freedom. But there was a problem:
Congress was hostile to modern art (saw it as communist or degenerate)
The American public preferred traditional art
Modern artists were often leftist or communist sympathizers
Solution? The CIA would promote modern art SECRETLY, without public or Congressional knowledge.
"The CIA couldn't care less about culture. They were interested in political ends... Modern art was a weapon of the Cold War."
- Former CIA officer Donald Jameson
2Operation Long Leash
The CIA conducted a massive covert operation to promote American culture worldwide, with modern art as a centerpiece.
Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF)
The CIA created and funded the Congress for Cultural Freedom, which:
Operated in 35 countries
Published numerous magazines and journals
Organized conferences and exhibitions
Funded artists, writers, and intellectuals
Promoted Abstract Expressionism globally
Artists and participants often didn't know the CIA was behind the funding.
Funding Mechanisms:
Fairfield Foundation - CIA front organization
Farfield Foundation - Another CIA conduit
Rockefeller Foundation - Worked with CIA programs
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) - Board members had CIA ties
Whitney Museum - Participated in touring exhibitions
"We wanted to unite all the people who were writers, who were musicians, who were artists, to demonstrate that the West and the United States was devoted to freedom of expression."
- Thomas Braden, former CIA agent (1995 interview)
3Abstract Expressionism
Why did the CIA choose Abstract Expressionism specifically?
Drips, splatters, color fields, aggressive brushwork
Claimed to express inner emotional states
Why Abstract Art Was Perfect for CIA Goals
Ultimate "Freedom": No rules, no representation = no censorship possible
Opposite of Soviet Art: Complete contrast to Socialist Realism
Ideologically Flexible: Could be interpreted however needed
Elitist Appeal: Made American culture seem sophisticated
Apolitical Appearance: Harder to critique than propaganda
"Abstract Expressionism was the ideal propaganda. It was made in America, it was new, and it was totally confusing to the communists. They said, 'What is this? This is decadent, bourgeois nonsense.' But they couldn't ban it because it was 'freedom.'"
- Analysis of CIA cultural strategy
4The Hidden Agenda
Beyond Cold War politics, what deeper agenda did the promotion of modern art serve?
Cultural Revolution
The promotion of modern art was part of a broader effort to reshape Western culture:
Rejecting tradition: Breaking from classical beauty, skill, meaning
Relativism: "Art can be anything" = "Truth can be anything"
Elitism: Only "experts" can understand what's good
Nihilism: Art without meaning reflects life without meaning
The Subversion of Beauty:
For thousands of years, across all cultures, art celebrated:
Beauty and harmony
Skill and craftsmanship
Meaning and narrative
The divine and transcendent
Modern art inverted ALL of these values. This is not progress - it's destruction.
Frankfurt School Connection
The cultural Marxists of the Frankfurt School had explicitly called for using culture to undermine Western civilization. Key figures like Theodor Adorno wrote about using art to disrupt traditional values. The CIA's modern art program aligned with these goals, even as they claimed to fight communism.
Traditional Art
Modern Art
Beauty
Ugliness celebrated
Skill required
"Anyone can do it"
Meaning
Meaninglessness
Accessible
Elitist
Lifts the spirit
Disturbs, shocks
Points to truth
Denies truth exists
5The Artists Involved
Most artists promoted by the CIA didn't know about the intelligence connection. But their work served the agenda.
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)
Famous for "drip paintings" - throwing and dripping paint onto canvas on the floor. Struggled with alcoholism and depression. Died in car crash at 44.
CIA Use: Toured internationally as symbol of American artistic freedom
Methods: Admitted to entering trance-like states while painting - a form of automatism/spiritism
Mark Rothko (1903-1970)
Known for large color field paintings - simple rectangles of color. Grew increasingly depressed. Died by suicide.
CIA Use: Featured in touring exhibitions
Philosophy: Sought to express "basic human emotions - tragedy, ecstasy, doom"
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997)
Aggressive, violent brushwork, distorted female figures. Struggled with alcoholism.
CIA Use: Part of promoted Abstract Expressionist canon
Robert Motherwell (1915-1991)
Large abstract works with political themes. Had connections to CIA-funded Congress for Cultural Freedom.
CIA Use: Conscious participant in cultural diplomacy
A Pattern of Destruction
Notice the recurring themes among these celebrated artists:
Alcoholism and addiction
Mental illness and depression
Occult/spiritualist practices
Tragic deaths (suicide, accidents)
These are not signs of healthy creative expression. They are signs of spiritual bondage.
6The Lasting Impact
The CIA's cultural operation ended decades ago, but its effects continue:
Art Education:
Traditional techniques (drawing, perspective, anatomy) devalued or abandoned
"Conceptual" work valued over skill
Students taught that beauty is "subjective"
Classical training seen as outdated
Art Market:
Abstract and conceptual works sell for millions
Skilled traditional art marginalized
Art world controlled by small elite of dealers, curators, critics
Public disconnected from "high art"
Public Perception:
"I don't understand art" - common feeling
Art seen as only for elites
Average person's aesthetic sense dismissed
"That's not art!" meets "You just don't understand"
The Emperor Has No Clothes
When ordinary people say "my child could do that," they're often right. The art world's response - that you need special training to "understand" why a blank canvas or pile of garbage is profound - is gaslighting.
Beauty is NOT entirely subjective. Humans across all cultures recognize certain things as beautiful. The modern art establishment has succeeded in making people doubt their own perception.
7Spiritual Dimension
"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" - Isaiah 5:20
The Spiritual Reality:
Behind the political manipulation lies a deeper spiritual agenda:
The Inversion of Beauty
Yahuah created beauty. The heavens declare His glory. Humans made in His image naturally respond to beauty, order, and meaning. The systematic attack on beauty is ultimately an attack on the Creator's nature and our perception of it.
Spirit Channeling in Modern Art:
Many modern artists openly described their creative process in terms that reveal demonic influence:
Automatism: Letting the hand move "without conscious control"
Trance states: Entering altered consciousness to create
Spirit guides: Some artists claimed entities guided their work
Drugs and alcohol: Used to access "creative" states
"When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing... I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own."
- Jackson Pollock
This is not inspiration - this is divination, opening oneself to spiritual entities other than the Set-Apart Spirit.
"There shall not be found among you anyone who... practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead." - Deuteronomy 18:10-11
8Believer Response
What Should We Do?
1. Recognize the Deception
Understand that the "modern art" pushed on us for decades was not organic cultural development but deliberate manipulation. You're not ignorant for finding it ugly or meaningless - it often IS ugly and meaningless.
2. Reclaim Beauty
Beauty is not arbitrary. Yahuah made beauty:
The glory of sunsets and mountains
The order of mathematics and music
The complexity of life
The human form made in His image
We should create and enjoy art that reflects His beauty.
3. Support True Art
Appreciate artists who develop skill and craft
Value art that uplifts and inspires
Don't be intimidated by "expert" opinions
Teach children to recognize and create beauty
4. Create for His Glory
If you have artistic gifts, use them to glorify Yahuah:
Develop your skills seriously
Create beauty that points to the Creator
Tell truth through your work
Reject the "anything goes" lie
"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." - Philippians 4:8
Conclusion
The story of modern art reveals how culture can be manipulated for political and spiritual purposes. What was sold as "freedom" was actually control - redirecting Western civilization away from beauty, meaning, and ultimately, from the Creator who made all things good.
Key Takeaways:
The CIA secretly promoted Abstract Expressionism as Cold War propaganda
Modern art inverts traditional values of beauty, skill, and meaning
This served both political and deeper spiritual agendas
Many celebrated artists used occult practices
The effects continue in art education and culture today
Believers should reclaim beauty and create for Yahuah's glory
"The heavens declare the glory of Elohim; and the firmament showeth His handiwork." - Psalm 19:1
True art reflects the Creator's beauty. Everything else is a counterfeit.