every picture tells a story.
yet, abstract art can also be narrative.
through abstract art, joan mitchell told the story of her feelings, memories, or experiences. stories of places, or people that she loved. stories inspired by the arts. stories inspired by nature.
probably the most exceptional art exhibition to take place in san francisco in years, the joan mitchell retrospective at the san francisco museum of art (sfmoma) lets the pictures tell the stories.
joan mitchell
san francisco museum of modern art | san francisco, ca
4 september 2021-17 january 2022
baltimore museum of art | baltimore, md
6 march 2022-14 august 2022
fondation louis vuitton | paris, france
fall 2022
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joan mitchell exhibition catalog | by sarah roberts and katy siegel
photo credit sfmoma
new york
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joan mitchell (1925-1992) | hudson river day line | oil on canvas | 1955
mcnay art museum | san antonio, tx
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | evenings on 73rd street | oil on canvas | 1957
private collection
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
commuting between new york and paris
“i wanted to be sure to reach you;
though my ship was on the way it got caught in some moorings.
i am always tying up and then deciding to depart.”
–to the harbormaster, a poem by mitchell’s friend, frank o’hara (1926-1966), 1957
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | to the harbormaster | oil on canvas | 1957
ars art lp
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
moving from the city (paris) to the country (vétheuil)
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | my landscape II | oil on canvas | 1967
smithsonian american art museum | washington, dc
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
sold for hkd 65,261,000 (over usd 8,000,000)
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | untitled | oil on canvas | circa 1967
sotheby’s | hong kong | 9 october 2021 | sale hk1141 | lot 1114
photo credit sotheby’s
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | russian easter | oil on canvas | 1967
private collection | liechtenstein
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
mitchell alternated between either acknowledging or denying the influence of impressionist painter, claude monet (1840-1926), who lived in vétheuil from 1878-1881.
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | sans neige | oil on canvas | 1969
carnegie museum of art | pittsburgh, pa
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
monet painted over 100 scènes de neige (snow scenes).
claude monet (1840-1926) | frost near vétheuil | oil on canvas | 1880
musee d’orsay | paris, france
photo credit art-monet.com
friends
feelings, memories, experiences…
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | salut tom | oil on canvas | 1979
national gallery of art | washington, dc
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
poetry
someone else’s feelings, memories, or experiences.
‘…c’est la peau du dehors qui se retourne et nous absorbe…’
(…the skin of the exterior turns inside out and absorbs us…)
–la ligne de la rupture, a poem by mitchell’s friend, jacques dupin (1927-2012), 1971
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | la ligne de la rupture | oil on canvas | 1970-1971
private collection
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
top: joan mitchell (1925-1992) | sorbes de la nuit d’été | pastel and ink on paper | 1975
a poem by mitchell’s friend, jacques dupin (1927-2012)
private collection
bottom: joan mitchell (1925-1992) | blue | pastel and ink on paper | circa 1975
a poem by j j mitchell, a friend who joan mitchell met through frank o’hara (1926-1966)
the museum of modern art | new york, ny
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
‘we shall have everything we want and there’ll be no more dying
on the pretty plains of in the supper clubs…
–ode to joy, a poem by mitchell’s friend, frank o’hara (1926-1966), 1958
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | ode to joy (a poem by frank o’hara) | oil on canvas | circa 1970-1971
university at buffalo art galleries | buffalo, ny
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
nature
rejuvenation and plentitude
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | no rain | oil on canvas | circa 1976
the museum of modern art | new york, ny
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
mitchell acknowledged the influences of impressionist painters, vincent van gogh (1853-1890) and paul cezanne (1839-1906), who first made an impression upon her during childhood visits to the art institute of chicago.
vincent van gogh (1853-1890) | rain | oil on canvas | 1889
philadelphia museum of art | philadelphia, pa
photo credit philadelphia museum of art
paul cezanne (1839-1906) | mont sainte-victoire seen from the bibémus quarry | oil on canvas | 1895-1899
baltimore museum of art (bma) | baltimore, md
photo credit bma
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | south | oil on canvas | 1989
fondation louis vuitton | paris, france
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | before, again IV | oil on canvas | 1985
anderson collection at stanford university, california | palo alto, ca
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | marge | oil on canvas | 1990
private collection
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
sunlowers
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | untitled | oil on canvas | 1992
komal shah and gaurav garg collection
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | sunflower IV | oil on canvas | 1969
williams college museum of art | williamstown, ma
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
joan mitchell (1925-1992) | also returned | oil on canvas | 1969
private collection
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace
i have also returned (three times) to visit and revisit the the joan mitchell retrospective.