The Martha Jackson Gallery played a pivotal role in introducing postwar American art to a wider audience in New York from 1953 onward, particularly Abstract Expressionism, Action Painting, and Pop Art. The gallery also organized numerous exhibitions featuring European artists as well as Japanese artists, including members of the Gutai Art Association. Most of the works exhibited were acquired directly by Martha Jackson from artists’ studios shortly after their completion.
In the catalogue published for this exhibition, held four years before the opening of the Seibu Museum of Art, Seiji Tsutsumi wrote in his essay “Respect for the Creator”:“Only a small number of supporters truly understand the artist and assume the responsibility of passing on his work to future generations. Martha Jackson, who began her activities in the late 1940s, was a woman who fulfilled such a role admirably.”
These words also reflect Tsutsumi’s own activities, as he personally visited artists’ studios and engaged directly with their works.
Many of the artists represented in this exhibition—including Karel Appel, Arman, César, Hisao Domoto, Jean Dubuffet, Lucio Fontana, Sam Francis, Paul Jenkins, Henry Moore, Louise Nevelson, Jackson Pollock, Victor Vasarely, and Aijiro Wakita—are also represented in the current collection of the Sezon Museum of Modern Art.