Atlantic Civilization by Andre Fougeron (1953)

The painting is Fougeron's key work of social criticism and an example of Cold War rhetoric. Fougeron caricatures the Americanisation of Europe, then a major target of Communist Party propaganda.

Atlantic Civilisation was a self-conscious gesture.Fougeron used a simplifying style that deliberately plays on the comic-strip culture it attacks. The painting is packed with conflicting narratives of corruption, rooted in colonialism, capitalism and class. The image has elements of French Colinial wars in indo-china and North America, the continuing nuclear threat and exploitation of under privileged.