[1] After taking some graduate courses in business at the University of New Hampshire with a direction towards banking, he withdrew from his studies.
Tilton set forth to New York City where a family friend, Betty Parsons -- best known for her early championing of the Abstract Expressionists including Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko -- had a prominent gallery on 57th Street in Manhattan.
[4] In 2005, he relocated Jack Tilton Gallery to a townhouse at East 76th Street on the Upper East Side where Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt were wed.[1] Tilton was known for cultivating young talent and promoting emerging artists.
Tilton Gallery staged debut New York solo exhibitions for artists including Glenn Ligon,[5] Lyle Ashton Harris,[6] Nicole Eisenman,[7][8] Francis Alÿs, Marlene Dumas.
He also played an important role in the careers of artists Kiki Smith, David Hammons, and Fred Holland.