Blake's protests against the conventions of his day were inspirational for many young Americans disillusioned by perceived cultural tendencies of social uniformity, materialism and consumerism, racial and gender discrimination, and environmental degradation. (blockmuseum.northwestern.edu)
For Clement Greenberg, «Modernist art belongs to the same historical and cultural tendency as modern science.» (haberarts.com)
Instead, it represented a brilliant fusion of two of the great cultural tendencies of our day: the pressing of Hollywood celebrities into positions of cultural authority which gives them powerful influence far beyond their ability to hold a note or to learn a script; and the transformation of the serious and the sacred into the idioms of showbusiness. (firstthings.com)