06/15/2026
We are delighted to offer this rare and major work by Mary Abbott from 1949, a quintessential example of her early Abstract Expressionist period.
Mary Abbott
American, 1921 -2019
Ariel's Voice, 1949
36 1/12 x 48 inches
Signed lower right: Abbott
A vital member of the Abstract Expressionist movement in Postwar New York, Mary Abbott is known for the energetic gestural sensibility of her paintings. She was born in New York to a prominent family, and became immersed in the art scene there in the 1940s. Through sculptor David Hare in 1948, Abbott was introduced to the experimental school, Subjects of the Artist. It was there that she studied with Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, and met Willem de Kooning. This was a crucial moment in Abbott’s career, leading to her embrace of complete abstraction. At the forefront of the avant-garde scene in New York, she was one of the earliest female members of the Artist’s Club and a regular participant in their lively discussions at the Cedar Street Tavern. Mary Abbott’s work in the late 1940s and early 1950s reflects the development of her technical repertoire, which encompasses both broad brushwork and graphic linear virtuosity.
Such qualities are evident in exuberant canvases like Ariel’s Voice from 1949. This is one of several paintings Abbott created around this time that drew inspiration from mythology and religion. Abbott often reused titles in more than one painting and Ariel was a favorite of hers. From the original Hebrew it literally means “Lion of God” and in the Old Testament is another name for Jerusalem. It has a long history in art and literature, of which Abbott was well aware.
The comic character Ariel in Shakespeare’s The Tempest was an airy, mischievous spirit. Alexander Pope utilized it for a sylph in The R**e of the Lock (1712) and one of the five major moons of Uranus is named Ariel in honor of Pope. Although it does not have a representational link to specific myths or narratives, it conveys the artist’s individual experiences and responses through the language of abstraction.
