Modernism Came Flying: A Micro-history of Artistic Internationalism and Cultural Encounters in US-Chilean Relations, 1968

Advisors: Nara B. Milanich (Columbia), Tanya Harmer (LSE)

My thesis examined the diplomatic, political, and cultural impact of artistic internationalism over US-Chilean relations in 1968. Based on a microhistorical approach to the global Cold War, my work analyses the relationship between modernization programs and artistic modernism under the framework of the Alliance for Progress. The case study of 'De Cézanne a Miró', the most expensive art collection sent to Chile by MoMA, reveals the creation, exportation and reception of a distinctive cultural ethos promoted by US agents. The thesis traces the transnational networks that tensioned cultural encounters in a crucial year for domestic and global politics.