Born in 1921, Mary Abbott was a first-wave Abstract Expressionist, producing some of the best and earliest examples of fully abstract work with a dramatic sense of movement and infused emotion. In the midst of the New York School, Abbott helped to shape this new mode of painting in the 1950s that would affect generations of artists to follow. Whereas some of her peers avoided recognizable subject matter entirely, Abbott developed a voice that served an expressive end even in the presence of hints of representation.
