Schoelkopf Gallery in New York has opened "Mary Abbott: To Draw Imagination," the first comprehensive survey exhibition dedicated to Abstract Expressionist painter Mary Abbott, who died in 2019. The show follows the gallery's announcement that it now represents Abbott's estate. Abbott, born in 1921 into a prominent New York family with presidential lineage, studied at the Art Students League and Subjects of the Artists, and showed alongside Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and others in the landmark 1951 Ninth Street Show, yet her legacy has remained largely overlooked.
This exhibition matters because it addresses a persistent gender gap in art history, where women pioneers of Abstract Expressionism like Abbott have been overshadowed by their male peers. By mounting the first dedicated survey of her work, Schoelkopf Gallery aims to correct this omission and reintroduce Abbott's contributions to American art. The show also highlights the broader institutional effort to recover and elevate the careers of women artists who were active in the mid-20th century but failed to receive lasting recognition.