Held at Sokolniki Park in Moscow, then capital of the Soviet Union, the exhibition attracted 3 million visitors during its six-week run.

[1][2][3] The Cold War event is historic for the "Kitchen Debate" between then-Vice President of the United States Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, held first at the model kitchen table, outfitted by General Electric, and then continued in the color television studio where it was broadcast to both countries, with each leader arguing the merits of his system,[4] and a conversation that "escalated from washing machines to nuclear warfare.

"[5] But the event is equally renowned for its art exhibition, which included such celebrated artists as sculptors Robert Laurent, Ibram Lassaw and Isamu Noguchi and painters Hyman Bloom, Jackson Pollock and Edward Hopper in an art show coordinated by the United States Information Agency (USIA).

[4] Some also note that the event resulted in "a landmark contract to mass-manufacture Pepsi in the Soviet Union," creating new business opportunity, as well as a better relationship.

But others argue that "[a] year later, the Cuban missile crisis brought both sides to the brink of nuclear war, and ties didn't begin improving until the 1970s.

[5]"Even more so than art and fashion, it was the on-the-ground guides that would" serve to personalize America's presence in Moscow, answering questions and engaging in polite debate with Soviet visitors."

"[1] Four of them were also black, and "President Eisenhower was apparently concerned with how they might represent the United States and its systemic violations of civil rights in 1959."

"[9] "The Americans showed off a lot of consumer goods because—unlike heavy industry and space exploration—products like dishwashers and soda pop were areas where the U.S. was way ahead of Communist Russia.

This is evident in Vice President Richard Nixon's speech on the opening night of the Exhibition on July 24, 1959, as he congratulated USSR's Premier Nikita Khrushchev and the Soviets on their advances in astronomy and rocket science, but quickly returned to focus on what he considered the United States' strong points, especially the concept of freedom.

In 1943, an outgrowth of the "Soviet friendship societies established in the US during the 1920s and 1930s,"inspired many American artists and intellectuals to travel on cultural exchanges at government expense.

[21] By 1949, however, "artists associated with the group were targeted by antimodernist campaigns led by U.S. Representative George A. Dondero ... who denounced the NCASF as “Communist and subversive,”[22] and characterized socially engaged artists as “soldiers of the revolution—in smocks.”[22] These opinions later won him the International Fine Arts Council's Gold Medal of Honor for "dedicated service to American Art.

[21] Thus, the exhibits included American Scene paintings by [Thomas Hart] Benton, John Steuart Curry, Edward Hopper, and Grant Wood; expressionism and early experiments with abstraction by [Yasuo] Kuniyoshi, [Max] Weber, and Stuart Davis; and mature abstraction by Alexander Calder, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko...."[21] Like Kent, however, the artists invited to appear in the Exhibition were linked to communist activities, and "a few right-wing publicists and legislators" accused them of "undermining the reputation of the United States.

"[21][26] After the entire group of painters and sculptors were investigated, Francis Walter, Chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), revealed that thirty-four of the sixty-seven featured artists had been involved in some Communist organization.

[27] The Committee was prepared to remove their work from the Exhibit altogether when President Eisenhower intervened and allowed them to be displayed as originally planned.

To appease the conservatives, however, he also added several paintings dating back to the eighteenth century, to further lessen the impact of the more avant-garde work.

[29][30] The 50th anniversary conference of the National American Exhibition was celebrated "a day after U.S. President Barack Obama was in Russia to try to kick-start relations.