Mary Abbott (born July 27, 1921) is an American artist known as a member of the New York School of abstract expressionists in the late 1940s and 1950s. Her abstract and figurative work were also influenced by her time spent in St. Croix and Haiti, where she lived off and on throughout the 1950s.
Abbott was born in New York City, where she attended the Chapin School. Her family lineage traces back to John Adams, the second president of the United States. Her mother, Elizabeth Grinnell, was a poet and syndicated columnist with Hearst newspapers. After World War II, Abbott joined the "Downtown Group", which represented a group of artists who lived in lower Manhattan. In 1946, she set up a studio on Tenth Street in Manhattan.
Selected solo exhibitions
1950-60: Robert Keen Gallery, Southampton, NY;
1964, 65, 66: Kornblee Gallery, New York, NY;
1967: “In Loft,” New York, NY; Galerie Kleber, Paris, France;
1974: College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN; Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN;
1974, 75: Carleton College, Northfield, MN;
1977: Ann Hathaway Gallery, Washington, D.C.;
1978: St. Benedicts, St. Joseph, MN; Lake Gallery, Minneapolis, MN;
1985: Ingber Gallery, New York City;
1986: Benton Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY;
1988, 90, 93: Benton Gallery, Southampton, NY;
1997: Arlen Bujese, East Hampton, NY.
2007: McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
Selected group exhibitions
1952: Kootz Gallery, New York City;
1952-56: Tanager Gallery, New York;
1954, 55, 57: “New York Painting and Sculpture Annual,” Stable Gallery, New York City;
1955: “Poets Choose Painters,” Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York City;
1956: “Recent Drawings USA,” Museum of Modern Art, NY; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado;
1959: “Poetry and Painting,” Kornblee Gallery, NY;
1970, 1993: “Works on Paper,” Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro;
1970: Poindexter Gallery, NY;
1976: Landmark Gallery, New York;
1977: “Eight Artists, Minnesota, U.S.A.,” Projects Arts Center, Dublin, Ireland;
1977, 85: University of Minnesota; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota;
1985: Ingber Gallery, New York;
1990: “East Hampton Avant–Garde; A Salute to the Signa Gallery,” East Hampton, NY;
1991, 92: Benton Gallery, Southampton, NY;
1992: “Artists for the United World,” United Nations, UN Plaza, New York; National Academy of Design, New York; Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, New York;
1992, 93: Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York;
1993-2000: Arlene Bujese Gallery, East Hampton, NY;
2007: “Suitcase Paintings: Small Scale Abstract Expressionsim,” circ. Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia;
2008: Mary Abbott and Sally Egbert, Spanierman Gallery at East Hampton
