Martha Jackson (; January 17, 1907 – July 4, 1969) was an American

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...

gallery owner An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...

, and collector. Her

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

based Martha Jackson Gallery, founded in 1953, was groundbreaking in its representation of women and international artists, and in establishing the

op art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions. Op artworks are abstract, with many better-known pieces created in black and white. Typically, they give the viewer the impression of movement, hidden images ...

movement.

Biography

Jackson was born Martha Kellogg on January 17, 1907, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. She was born into two prominent Buffalo families, the daughter of Cyrena (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Case; 1884-1931) and Howard Kellogg (1881-1969). She had two brothers, Spencer Kellogg II and Howard Kellogg, Jr. Jackson's mother's family founded and operated W. A. Case & Son Manufacturing Company which was eventually purchased in 1952 by what is now Covanta. Jackson's father was president of Spencer Kellogg & Sons, Inc., a linseed oil firm founded by his father, which became a division of

Textron Textron Inc. is an American industrial conglomerate based in Providence, Rhode Island. Textron's subsidiaries include Arctic Cat, Bell Textron, Textron Aviation (which itself includes the Beechcraft, and Cessna brands), and Lycoming Engin ...

in 1961. Jackson attended

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

from 1925 to 1928 where she studied

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. She moved to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

during the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

where she studied

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and the

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

. In 1949, following her interest in making art, Jackson moved to New York to attend the Hans Hofmann School of Art. Already an art collector, she took Hoffman's advice to become an art dealer, using sales from her personal collections to fund her gallery. Jackson was married to John Anderson of Buffalo with whom she had two children, Cyrena (1934-1939) and David (1935-2009). The marriage ended in divorce. She was married a second time to attorney David Jackson of Buffalo from 1940 to 1949. Martha Jackson died at age 62 at her Mandeville Canyon home in

Brentwood, Los Angeles Brentwood is a suburban neighborhood in the Westside region of Los Angeles. History General Modern development began after the establishment of the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors in the 1880s. A sma ...

on July 4, 1969 after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage while swimming in her pool. She is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in

Buffalo, NY Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

Martha Jackson Gallery

In 1953 Jackson opened the Martha Jackson Gallery in a brownstone on East 66th street in Manhattan. In 1955 the gallery moved to East 69th street, where it remained open until Jackson's death in 1969. Working with the assistance of her son, David Anderson, Jackson's gallery was known as an artist-friendly establishment that represented an international roster of artist from the US, England, Holland, France, Spain, Israel, Japan, and Canada. Among those in her stable were Henry Moore,

Louise Nevelson Louise Nevelson (September 23, 1899 – April 17, 1988) was an American sculptor known for her monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures. Born in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Kyiv Oblast ...

Lynn Chadwick Lynn Russell Chadwick, (24 November 1914 – 25 April 2003) was an English sculptor and artist. Much of his work is semi-abstract sculpture in bronze or steel. His work is in the collections of MoMA in New York, the Tate in London and the ...

, Norman Carton,

Philip Pavia Philip Pavia (1911-2005) was a culturally influential American artist of Italian descent, known for his scatter sculpture and figurative abstractions, and the debate he fostered among many of the 20th century's most important art thinkers. A foun ...

, Zoltán Kemény,

Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,

Grace Hartigan Grace Hartigan (March 28, 1922 – November 15, 2008) was an American Abstract Expressionist painter and a significant member of the vibrant New York School of the 1950s and 1960s. Her circle of friends, who frequently inspired one another in t ...

, Paul Jenkins, Lester Johnson,

Frank Lobdell Frank Lobdell (1921 - 2013) was an American painter, often associated with the Bay Area Figurative Movement and Bay Area Abstract Expressionism. Life and career Frank Lobdell was born on August 23, 1921 in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Miss ...

Yaacov Agam Yaacov Agam ( he, יעקב אגם) (born 11 May 1928) is an Israeli sculptor and experimental artist widely known for his contributions to optical and kinetic art. Biography Yaacov Gibstein (later Agam) was born in Israel, which, at that time ...

, Karel Appel,

Alan Davie James Alan Davie (28 September 1920 – 5 April 2014) was a Scottish painter and musician. Biography Davie was born in Grangemouth, Scotland in 1920, the son of Elizabeth (née Turnbull) and James William Davie, an art teacher and painter who ...

, William Scott,

Yves Gaucher Yves Gaucher, (January 3, 1934 – September 8, 2000) was an abstract painter and printmaker. He is considered a leader amongst Quebec's printmakers in the 1950s and 60s. His work has been included in the collections of public galleries s ...

, Jean McEwen, Philippe Hosiasson, and Antoni Tàpies — who had his New York solo debut at the gallery. The gallery also exhibited works by

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

and Marino Marini, New York School painters like

Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning (; ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. He was born in Rotterdam and moved to the United States in 1926, becoming an American citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married painter El ...

, Hans Hofmann, and

Adolph Gottlieb Adolph Gottlieb (March 14, 1903 – March 4, 1974) was an American abstract expressionist painter, sculptor and printmaker. Early life and education Adolph Gottlieb, one of the "first generation" of Abstract Expressionists, was born in New York ...

, deceased Americans

Milton Avery Milton Clark Avery (March 7, 1885 – January 3, 1965Haskell, B. (2003). "Avery, Milton". Grove Art Online.) was an American modern painter. Born in Altmar, New York, he moved to Connecticut in 1898 and later to New York City. He was the husband ...

Alexander Calder Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and hi ...

Arshile Gorky Arshile Gorky (; born Vostanik Manoug Adoian, hy, Ոստանիկ Մանուկ Ատոյեան; April 15, 1904 – July 21, 1948) was an Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of hi ...

, and

Marsden Hartley Marsden Hartley (January 4, 1877 – September 2, 1943) was an American Modernist painter, poet, and essayist. Hartley developed his painting abilities by observing Cubist artists in Paris and Berlin. Early life and education Hartley was born ...

, and emerging artists Lawrence Calcagno,

John Hultberg John Hultberg (February 8, 1922 – April 15, 2005) was an American Abstract expressionist and Abstract realist painter. Early in his career he was related to the Bay Area Figurative Movement; he was also a lecturer and playwright. Early life a ...

Lee Krasner Lenore "Lee" Krasner (born Lena Krassner; October 27, 1908 – June 19, 1984) was an American abstract expressionist painter, with a strong speciality in collage. She was married to Jackson Pollock. Although there was much cross-pollination be ...

, and

Norman Bluhm Norman Bluhm (March 28, 1921 – February 3, 1999), was an American painter classified as an abstract expressionist, and as an action painter. Biography He was born on March 28, 1921 in Chicago, Illinois. His father Henry Bluhm was of Polish ...

The gallery was the first in the US to exhibit

Gutai The was a Japanese avant-garde artist group founded in the Hanshin region by young artists under the leadership of the painter Jirō Yoshihara in Ashiya, Japan, in 1954. The group, today one of the most internationally-recognized instances o ...

, the Japanese postwar collective, and also one of the first to represent women. In addition to representing Louise Nevelson, Jackson worked with

Alma Thomas Alma Woodsey Thomas (September 22, 1891 – February 24, 1978) was an African-American artist and teacher who lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and is now recognized as a major American painter of the 20th century. Thomas is best known for t ...

— who became the first African American woman to mount a solo show at the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

in New York —

, Marisol (Escobar), Barbara Hepworth, and

. She also championed American artist from beyond the New York region, like

Morris Louis Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D. ...

in the 1950s, and

Ed McGowin Ed McGowin (born 1938) is an American painter and sculptor based in New York City. Throughout his career, McGowin has produced works in a wide variety of media that have been installed and exhibited in galleries, museums and public spaces. He ha ...

in the 1960s. In the summer of 1960 Jackson mounted the proto-Pop ''New Forms — New Media'' exhibition, a subversive show featuring 72 works of art in the Dadaist tradition. The crowded exhibition, dubbed "wild and wacky" and "

Neo-Dada Neo-Dada was a movement with audio, visual and literary manifestations that had similarities in method or intent with earlier Dada artwork. It sought to close the gap between art and daily life, and was a combination of playfulness, iconoclasm, a ...

" by John Canday in the New York Times, featured both historic and contemporary examples of mixed-media assemblage, high and low found objects that were both groundbreaking yet easily mistaken as household junk. The exhibition included works by Hans Arp,

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, Constructivism (art), constructivism, surrealism ...

Joseph Cornell Joseph Cornell (December 24, 1903 – December 29, 1972) was an American visual artist and film-maker, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of assemblage. Influenced by the Surrealists, he was also an avant-garde experimental filmm ...

Jean Dubuffet Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he believed to be a ...

Robert Mallary Robert W. Mallary (December 2, 1917 – February 10, 1997) was an American abstract expressionist sculptor and pioneer in computer art. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was renowned for his Neo-Dada or "junk art" sculpture, created from found materia ...

, Wilfred Zogbaum, Robert Rauschenberg

Bruce Conner Bruce Conner (November 18, 1933 – July 7, 2008) was an American artist who worked with assemblage, film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography. Biography Bruce Conner was born November 18, 1933 in McPherson, Kansas.His well- ...

, Zoltán Kemény, and

Enrico Donati Enrico Donati (February 19, 1909 – April 25, 2008) was an Italian-American Surrealist painter and sculptor. Life and work Enrico Donati studied economics at the Università degli Studi, Pavia, and in 1934 moved to the USA, where he attended th ...

s that pushed against the social limits of art; interactive artworks that invited audience participation and blurred the boundaries between painting and sculpture. In the fall of 1960, the gallery launched a second installment of the exhibit, ''New Forms New Media II, which'' ran from September 22- October 22. In 1961 Jackson opened ''Environments, Situations, Spaces'', a follow up to the ''New Forms — New Media'' shows. This exhibition consisted of site-specific and interactive works including ''Spring Cabinet,'' room of drippy paint buckets by

Jim Dine Jim Dine (born June 16, 1935 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American artist whose œuvre extends over sixty years. Dine’s work includes painting, drawing, printmaking (in many forms including lithographs, etchings, gravure, intaglio, woodcuts, l ...

; ''Yard'', a courtyard full of salvaged tires by

Allan Kaprow Allan Kaprow (August 23, 1927 – April 5, 2006) was an American painter, assemblagist and a pioneer in establishing the concepts of performance art. He helped to develop the " Environment" and " Happening" in the late 1950s and 1960s, as well ...

; as well as a recreation of Clase Oldenburg's ''Store''. Jackson worked with Julian Stanczak, and the gallery's 1964 exhibition of his paintings led to the coining of the term " Op Art" by

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

. Around the same time, Jackson established Red Parrot Films, a production company that made documentaries on art and artists. Their film "The Ivory Knife," on Paul Jenkins, was awarded a prize at the Venice Biennale in the mid 1960s. The gallery was also a leader in the publishing and marketing of artist prints, and ephemera. Jackson and Anderson worked with

Jim DIne Jim Dine (born June 16, 1935 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American artist whose œuvre extends over sixty years. Dine’s work includes painting, drawing, printmaking (in many forms including lithographs, etchings, gravure, intaglio, woodcuts, l ...

Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,

, Julian Stanczak,

, and Karel Appel on limited editions. Martha Jackson remained connected to her home town of Buffalo, NY and worked with Seymour Knox Jr., to enter works by

Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,

, and Antoni Tàpies into the Albright Knox collection.

Collection and legacy

Following her death in 1969, works from Jackson's personal collection were donated to the Albright Knox Gallery in Buffalo, NY. The gift includes works by Norman Carton,

Richard Diebenkorn Richard Diebenkorn (April 22, 1922 – March 30, 1993) was an American painter and printmaker. His early work is associated with abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1960s he bega ...

, Alfred Jensen,

Piero Manzoni Piero Manzoni di Chiosca e Poggiolo, better known as Piero Manzoni (July 13, 1933 – February 6, 1963) was an Italian artist best known for his ironic approach to avant-garde art. Often compared to the work of Yves Klein, his own work antici ...

Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...

, Antoni Tàpies, and

Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American abstract expressionist painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of the New York School, which also inc ...

. Artworks from the Martha Jackson Collection were exhibited at the

National Museum of American Art The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds ...

in 1985. The show featured 127 paintings and sculptures by Americans in Jackson's collection, including works by

Joan Mitchell Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was an American artist who worked primarily in painting and printmaking, and also used pastel and made other works on paper. She was an active participant in the New York School of artis ...

, Michael Goldberg,

Eldzier Cortor Eldzier Cortor (January 10, 1916 – November 26, 2015) was an African-American artist and printmaker. His work typically features elongated nude figures in intimate settings, influenced by both traditional African art and European surrealism ...

, Marisol,

Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,

, James Brooks, Julian Stanczak, and

Alex Katz Alex Katz (born July 24, 1927) is an American figurative artist known for his paintings, sculptures, and prints. Early life and career Alex Katz was born July 24, 1927, to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, as the son of an émigré who ha ...

's sets for

Kenneth Koch Kenneth Koch ( ; 27 February 1925 – 6 July 2002) was an American poet, playwright, and professor, active from the 1950s until his death at age 77. He was a prominent poet of the New York School of poetry. This was a loose group of poets includ ...

's 1962 play, "George Washington Crossing the Delaware." All of the works in the exhibition had been donated to the museum in 1980 by Jackson's son, David Anderson. Prints from Martha Jackson's collection were exhibited in "Martha Jackson Graphics" at the University of Buffalo Anderson Gallery in 2015. In 2021 the Hollis Taggart gallery presented the exhibit ''Wild and Brilliant: The Martha Jackson Gallery and Post-War Art''. The exhibition was organized by independent curator Jillian Russo, accompanied by an eponymous essay and catalog. Martha Jackson is portrayed in the 2022 Geraldine Brooks best seller historic novel, Horse, based upon the life of the race horse Lexington.

References

External links

Thomas B. Hess' review of New Forms — New Media
featured i
''Pop Art: A Critical History,'' edited by Steven Henry Madoff (University of California Press, 1997)
*Th
Martha Jackson Collection
at th
Albright-Knox, Buffalo, NY
*UB Art Gallerie
Martha Jackson Gallery Archives
*Archives of American Ar
Martha Jackson Gallery records, 1954-1964
*Albright-Kno
Martha Kellogg Jackson BiographyThe Martha Jackson Memorial Collection
June 21, 1985 – September 15, 1985, Smithsonian American Art Museum *David K Anderso

Buffalo News, 2009 *
Wild and Brilliant: The Martha Jackson Gallery and Post-War Art
'' curated by Jillian Russo at Hollis Taggart Gallery, New York, NY, 2021 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Martha Kellogg 1907 births 1969 deaths People from Buffalo, New York American art dealers