Mary Abbott

Mary Lee Abbott (July 27, 1921 – August 23, 2019) was 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 Saint Croix and Haiti, where she lived off and on throughout the 1950s. Early life and education 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. Her family would spend time in the summer in Southampton, New York in Long Island. She was a student of artist George Grosz, while attending the Art Students League of New York. At the experimental school, Subjects of the Artist, Abbott worked with Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, and David Hare. Abbott then studied in the late 1930s at the Corcoran Museum School (now known as Corcoran School of the Arts and Design) in Washington, D.C. She was briefly married to painter Lewis Teague from 1943 until 1946. Soon after her separation from Teague, she married businessman Tom Clyde. Clyde and Abbott spent many winters in Haiti and St.Croix. Here, she found many inspirations, such as the people and landscapes, that often inspired her paintings.