Art: Thesis in Paris

The hit of Paris last week was an art show with a lofty label—"Masterpieces of the 20th Century"—and a thesis. Among the 114 canvases and twelve sculptures on display were major works by Renoir, Van Gogh, Picasso, Pierre Bonnard, Paul Klee, Marcel Duchamp and scores of lesser lights. The thesis: "Such cultural achievements are possible only in a climate of intellectual freedom."

Show and thesis were part & parcel of May's International Exposition of the Arts, sponsored by the Congress for Cultural Freedom.* Said the show's director, James Johnson Sweeney, U.S. art historian: "I...