Post-WWII
The increasing association of regionalist and representational art with commercialism and advertising (and in some eyes, with fascism) contributed to its decreasing popularity and to the rise of abstract and surrealist art after World War II. When AAA opened galleries in Chicago and Beverly Hills, it stocked them with modern works by American and—a first for AAA—European artists. (When Lewenthal offered Jackson Pollock an art-for-business commission like those he had offered his artists in 1934, Pollock turned him down.) In its press releases and articles AAA talked about exploring "new frontiers," "new trends" -- and made no mention of the $5 mail-order line and the artists who had helped it succeed twenty years earlier. Thomas Hart Benton resigned from AAA in 1946.
AAA continued to find new ways to sell art, however, branching out into Stonelain porcelain, fabric, and housewares such as ashtrays, playing cards, and lamp shades as vehicles for work in abstract and other modern styles. By the mid-1950s, Lewenthal was quoted as saying, "Today's artist is a designer, not an Ivory Tower tenant. His is a field of practical creativity and every American room can become a showcase for his genius.". Now, rather than bringing modern art to the masses, AAA was bringing mass consumer commodities into the world of art.
Read more about this topic: Associated American Artists