Keepers of the Flame: An Exchange on Art and Western Cultural Influences in the USSR after World War II

This dialogue between two leading art historians--an American and a Russian--illuminates the mutual attraction of Russian culture to Western observers, and Western culture to Russians, during the Cold War. The conversation emphasizes the official Soviet attitude toward Western culture in general and the pervasive obstacles facing Soviet artists and art scholars who wanted to keep abreast of Western practices. Even the most esoteric fields of scholarship in the Soviet Union were affected by official pressure and a Cold War mentality.