Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-06-17

poor repair, is very SlInple.
As a Nation, we are too
cheap to spend the money
needed to make the American
representation at Venice re-
spectacle.
Interest Of Foreigners
Or, maybe we're not too
cheap. Maybe we just think
it would be un-American for
the American Government to
show any interest in Ameri-
can art.
At any rate, for some years
now we have followed a BIZ
partisan cultural policy. DEM
ocratic or Republican, Amer
lean Governments agree:
Don't spend a dime on art.
The result, in Venice, is
that when the nations of the
world, every other year, come
to see what's new on the
Rialto of art, America looks
like q country cousin, hope
lessly outclassed by the Com
munists, by Western Europe
and by Latin America. At
RIGA and Asia. The outclass-
ing will become complete
after this years show, if
America simply vanishes
from the international art
scene.
Where's Uncle Sam?
The immediate cause of our
impending withdrawal is the
inability of the Museum Of
Modern Art to continue pick
ing up the tab for a func-
ton that every other coun-
try in the world accepts as
a government responsibility.
The Museums Iternational
Council recently announced
an expanded five-year pro-
gram of art activities abroad.
The program will have a top
budget of 100000 a year. 1t
has taken about $4,000 a
year for the museum to pre-
pare and present the Ameri-
can show at Venice. In the
new program, the museum is
dropping the Venice show.
Affected in the same way
is American participation in
the Number Two interna-
tional art exhibition, the
biennale at Sac Paulo, Brazil.
Missing American Art
The Museum of Modern Art
has, for about a decade, been
financing and arranging
American exhibitions in the
Brazilian event. The Sac
Paulo show Of 1868 viii be
the first to be affected by
the new decision. The Venice
show of 1864 will be the first
biennale there to be without
American art if no one comes
forward.
The obvious source of sup
port for our continued rep
resentation, at Sac Paulo and
Venice is the United States
Government. Every other
country represented at both
biennales does so through
government appropriation.
Politically the spectrum in
cludes constitutional demo-
cracieS, monarchies, personal
relationships, relationships of
the proletariat, and military
oligarchy. From far left to
far right, all other govern
ments agree: Art is the
visible evidence of a nations
cultural vitality and there
fore merits support.
One technical difficulty
stands in the way of the
American Governments join
ing the rest of civilization
in this matter. Other coun-
tries customarily have a cul-
tural ministry in their gov
eminent. Hence, such affairs
have a home, a cabinet Of
ficer clearly and obviously
responsible.
Cultural Ministry
Here we do not have a
minister Of culture and we
are not likely to get one. For
that reason, up to this time,
any American Government
use of art abroad has been
managed through the Depart
ment of State and through
the United States Informa-
ton Agency.
One natural result is that
art has tended to get some
what lost in the different
ends of foreign policy and
information, respectively.
Another has been that both
the State Department and
USIA have run into trouble
in their use of art. Small
trouble has been the ex-
pressed outrage of Presidents
Truman and Eisenhower at
specific art works used to
represent us abroad. Big
trouble has been American
patriotic societies" - espe-
cially during the 1865 using
American art sent abroad as
one more club with which
to beat the State Depart
ment over the head.
Reached for the Check
Hence, it was a blessing
for both the department and
the agency when the Museum
of Modern Arts International
Council began taking up the
slack in our art representa-
ne Best Place to Buy
= art