Jackson Pollock and the Abstract Expressionists made New York City the center of the art world after World War II. The CIA made them weapons of the Cold War.
This video explores the ideas that animated post-war American abstract painting and how these ideas were exploited by the CIA to combat Soviet propaganda.
References:
Art Forum: "ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM, WEAPON OF THE COLD WAR" by Eva Cockcroft
New Yorker: "Unpopular Front" by Louis Menand
New Art City by Jed Perl