"For decades in art circles it was either a rumour or a joke, but now it is confirmed as a fact. The Central Intelligence Agency used American modern art - including the works of such artists as Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko - as a weapon in the Cold War. In the manner of a Renaissance prince - except that it acted secretly - the CIA fostered and promoted American Abstract Expressionist painting around the world for more than 20 years." -- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/09/modern-art-was-cia-...

http://cup.columbia.edu/book/cold-war-modernists/97802311623...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-w...

https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/04/23/reviews/000423.23joff...