Cultural Offensive: America's Impact on British Art Since 1945

Rating:
Summary: A cross-cultural study
Review: This book considers the impact that the fine arts and mass culture of the United States had in Britain afer World War Two. Those influenced included British artists, art students and critics (including the author of the book when he was an art student). It's a fascinating social and cultural history. It is also an account of America's Cold War cultural offensive and the role played by American artists living in Britain (such as Kitaj). It documents the variegated responses of British artists to postwar America and its art, criticism and mass media. Their reactions ranged from Americanism - enthusiasm and compliance - to Anti-Americanism - criticism and resistance. Covering significant art movements such as Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, the author digests information from hundreds of published sources and interviews to paint a vivid picture of a crucial period in British culture. Many of the critics, painters and sculptors featured - Lawrence Alloway, Peter Blake, Reyner Banham, Anthony Caro, Clement Greenberg, David Hockney, Richard Hamilton, R.B. Kitaj, John Latham, Claes Oldenburg, Eduardo Paolozzi, Herbert Read, Bridget Riley, Larry Rivers - are now internationally famous. The study is brought up to date with an overview of the decline in American influence during in the 1980s and 1990s and the rise of Brit Art. Walker is a scholar, an academic but he writes in a lively, accessible way. This book is well illustrated (but no colour unfortunately) and should be of interest on both sides of the Atlantic.