Libbie Mark

American artist, Libbie Mark (1905 Jersey City, NJ–1972 New York, NY) created her work in the important artistic communities of New York and Provincetown, mainly in the 1950s and 1960s. She had connections with many of the twentieth century’s most significant artists, including Grace Hartigan, Hans Hofmann, and Vaclav Vytlacil. When her children became independent, she moved from the suburbs to the city to be closer to the New York art scene and began spending summers in Provincetown. Mark studied at the Art Students League and at Hofmann’s summer school. She was also an active participant in the Vectors artists group, whose membership featured an unusually high female representation for the times. In solo and group shows, Mark exhibited her abstract paintings, whose heavily textured surfaces were built up with tissue paper and other materials collaged with paint on paper, Masonite, or canvas. About 150 works have been documented so far.

Unlike many other mid-century artists, due to the support of her family, Mark was able to paint, take classes, and exhibit her work. However, hers was not the case of a comfortable housewife with a hobby. The extent and duration of Mark’s artistic activity, the quality of the work, the clear drive, and the related life decisions that made it happen demonstrate her serious commitment to her art. This understudied but talented artist deserves further study and exhibition; this website and other efforts of the Libbie Mark Provincetown Fund will help fulfill that goal.