Joan Mitchell
Biography
Joan Mitchell was an abstract artist whose prolific career spanned more than four decades. She worked in a variety of mediums—including oil on canvas, pastel on paper, and lithographic printing—and is widely recognized as one of the most significant artists of the post-war era.
Over her long and prolific career, the defining elements of Mitchell’s world—water, trees, dogs, poetry, music—created images and memories from which she worked. She once said, “I paint from remembered landscapes that I carry with me—and remembered feelings of them, which of course become transformed. I could certainly never mirror nature. I would like more to paint what it leaves me with.” She observed her landscape intensely, and her acute visual observations of form, space, and color in life were part of the visual memories she drew upon while painting.
Mitchell achieved significant critical and commercial success in her lifetime, exhibiting regularly in New York and Paris throughout the later decades of her life. The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art, and other major institutions began collecting her paintings in the 1950s. Her work was the subject of a mid-career retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum in 1974. In 1982, Mitchell became the first female American artist to have a solo exhibition at the Musee d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris. A retrospective exhibition, The Paintings of Joan Mitchell: Thirty-six Years of Natural Expressionism, toured the United States in 1988, with stops at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; the San Francisco Museum of Art; the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, California; and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
As an extension of her commitment to sustaining an environment of dedication and camaraderie among artists, Mitchell gave personal support to many young artists and writers who came to stay with her at her home in Vétheuil—sometimes for just one night, sometimes for an entire summer. Correspondence in her papers reveals that this generosity often had a life-changing impact on those who spent time with her.
Mitchell died in Paris on October 30, 1992. Her generosity in her own lifetime continued after her death with the formation of the Joan Mitchell Foundation, called for in her will in order to create support and recognition for individual artists. In addition, the Foundation’s mission includes the promotion and preservation of her legacy, which includes her remarkable body of work, her papers (including correspondence and photographs), and other archival materials related to her life and work.
Born:1925
Died: 1992
Sourced directly from the Joan Mitchell Foundation: “Joan Mitchell: Brief Biography.” Joan Mitchell Foundation
Exhibitions
Select Exhibitions
2019
Joan Mitchell: I carry my landscapes around with me, David Zwirner, New York (solo exhibition)
Return to Nature (Zao Xue Han Zhang), Lévy Gorvy, Hong Kong
Abstract or Not, Olivier Malingue, London
Un art autre, Lévy Gorvy, London
The Collection of the Fondation. A Vision For Painting, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris
2017–2019
Mitchell/Riopelle: Nothing in Moderation, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec [itinerary: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Fonds Hélène et Édouard Leclerc, Landerneau, France]
2018
Joan Mitchell Selected Exhibitions in 2018:
Joan Mitchell: Paintings from the Middle of the Last Century, 1953-1962, Cheim & Read, New York (solo exhibition)
Monet’s Legacy, Nagoya City Art Museum, Japan and the Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan
Hot Sun, Late Sun. Untamed Modernism, Fondation Vincent Van Gogh Arles, France
The Water Lilies: the American Abstract Art and the Last Monet, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris
Surface Work, Victoria Miro, London
2017
Beyond Boundaries: Feminine Forms, concurrently at Bryn Mawr College and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
The Horizontal, Cheim & Read, New York
Elaine, Let’s Get the Hell Out of Here, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York
Citings / Sightings, Lennon, Weinberg, New York
Blue, Black, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis
Making Space: Women Artists and Postwar Abstraction, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Off the Shelf: Modern & Contemporary Artists’ Books, Baltimore Museum of Art
Nothing and Everything: Seven Artists, 1947–1962, Hauser & Wirth, New York
2016
Joan Mitchell: Drawing Into Painting, Cheim & Read, New York (solo exhibition)
Postwar: Art between Pacific and Atlantic, 1945-1965, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
Abstract Expressionism, Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom [itinerary: Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain; Zao Wou-Ki Collectionneur, musée de l’Hospice Saint-Roch, Issoudun, France]
Women of Abstract Expressionism, Denver Art Museum, Colorado [itinerary: Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina; Palm Springs Art Museum, California]
Petits & grands tableaux en souvenir de Jean Fournier, Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris, France
La Promenade, une balade dans le dépôt long du Cnap, Musée régional d’art contemporain Languedoc Roussillon Midi Pyrénées, Sérignan, France
Declaration, Robischon Gallery, Denver, Colorado
From Kandinsky to Pollock. The Art of the Guggenheim Collections, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence
2015
Joan Mitchell: At the Harbor and in the Grande Vallée, Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, New York (solo exhibition)
Joan Mitchell Retrospective: Her Life and Paintings, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria [itinerary: Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany] (solo exhibition)
Joan Mitchell: The Sketchbook Drawings, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany (solo exhibition)
Painting 2.0: Expression in the Information Age, Museum Brandhorst, Munich
Marks Made: Prints by American Women Artists from the 1960s to the Present, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida
A Few Days, Lennon, Weinberg, Inc., New York
The Ceramic Presence in Modern Art: Selections from the Linda Leonard Schlenger Collection and the Yale University Art Gallery, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut
America is Hard to See, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
What is a Line?, Fralin Museum of Art, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Women and Abstraction, Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida
Figure Ground: Paintings and Prints by Joan Mitchell, Lithographs by Willem de Kooning, Sculptures by Raoul Hague, Lennon Weinberg, Inc., New York
Salon du Dessin: An exhibition of works on paper by gallery artists and invited guests, Lennon, Weinberg, Inc., New York
2014
En trois temps, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen, Caen, France
Rothko to Richter: Mark-Making in Abstract Painting from the Collection of Preston H. Haskell, Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, USA
Mitchell, Bengils, Wilke, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, USA
Everybody is Nobody to Somebody, Santander Foundation, Madrid, Spain
Why Nature? Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York (catalogue), USA
De la pierre à l´écran, un parcou imprimé Centre de la Gravure et de l\’Image imprimée de la rue des Amours 10, La Louvière, Belgium
Joan Mitchell: Trees, Cheim & Read, New York (catalogue), USA (solo)
2013
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (catalogue), USA (solo)
At Home in Poetry, Poetry Foundation, Chicago, USA (solo)
An American Master, Lehigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA (solo)
2012
The Last Decade, The Butler Institute of Contemporary Art, Youngstown, Ohio (solo)
The Last Paintings, Hauser & Wirth, London, UK (solo)
2011
The Last Paintings, Cheim & Read, New York (catalogue), USA (solo)
Paintings from the Fifties, Lennon, Weinberg, Inc., New York, USA (solo)
2010
Roaring Fifties, Galerie Thomas Modern, Germany (solo)
2010
Works on Paper, 1956 – 1992, Newcomb Art Gallery, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA (solo)
2009
Drawings, Kukje Gallery, Seoul, Korea (solo)
2009
Sunflowers, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland (solo)
2008
A Discovery of the New York School, Kunsthalle Emden, Germany; Palazzo Magnani, Reggio Emilia, Italy; Musée des Impressionnismes, Giverny, France (solo)
Sunflowers, Cheim & Read, New York, NY (solo)
Paintings and Pastels 1973–1983, Lennon, Weinberg, Inc., New York, NY (solo)
2007
Works on Paper 1956–1992, Cheim & Read, New York, NY (solo)
Leaving America, Hauser & Wirth, London, England (solo)
2006
DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA, (solo)
A Survey 1952–1992, Kukje Gallery, Seoul, Korea (solo)
2005
Prints from the Foundation, Susan Sheehan Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Frémicourt Paintings 1960–62, Cheim & Read, New York, NY (solo)
Joan Mitchell Sketchbook 1941–51, Francis M. Naumann, New York, NY (solo)
The 1946–1952 Sketchbook Drawings and Related Works, Pollock Gallery, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA (solo)
Hiroshima Museum of Art, Hiroshima, Japan
Matuszakaya Museum, Nagoya, Japan.
Manny Silverman Gallery, Group Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA
Cheim & Read, New York, Fremicourt Paintings 1960-62,
Nagano Tokyu, Nagano, Japan
2004
The Paintings of Joan Mitchell, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX; The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC (solo)
The Phillips Collection, Washington DC,
Tibor de Nagy, Working with Poets
Lennon, Weinberg, Joan Mitchell: Petit
2002
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX
Cheim & Read, New York, NY
The Paintings of Joan Mitchell, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
1998
Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1997
Selected Paintings, Lennon-Weinberg, New York, NY
Abstract Expressionism in the United States, Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo Mexico City, Mexico
1996
Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Group Exhibition, Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Galerie Jean Fournier & Cie, Paris, France (solo)
1995
Galerie Jean Fournier & Cie, Paris, France (solo)
1994
Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Les derniéres années, Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France
1993
Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Joan Mitchell Prints and Illustated Books: A Retrospective, Susan Sheehan Gallery New York, NY
1992
Joan Mitchell Pastels, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Galerie Jean Fournier & Cie, Paris, France (solo)
1991
Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
The Whitney Museum of American Art Annuals and Biennials, New York, NY
1990
Galerie Jean Fournier & Cie, Paris, France (solo)
1989
Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1988–1989
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA; Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, CA, USA (solo)
1987
Galerie Jean Fournier & Cie, Paris, France (solo)
1984
Galerie Jean Fournier & Cie, Paris, France (solo)
1983
The Whitney Museum of American Art Annuals and Biennials, New York, NY
1982
American Artists Abroad, 1900-1950, Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
Choix des peintures 1970-1982, Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
1980
Galerie Jean Fournier & Cie, Paris, France (solo)
1978
Galerie Jean Fournier & Cie, Paris, France (solo)
Ruth Shcaffner Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA (solo)
1976
Galerie Jean Fournier & Cie, Paris, France (solo)
1975
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
1974
Whitney Museum of American Art New York, NY (solo)
1973
The Whitney Museum of American Art Annuals and Biennials, New York, NY
Ruth Shcaffner Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA (solo)
1972
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Joan Mitchell, My Five Years in the Country, Everson museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
1971
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Galerie Jean Fournier & Cie, Paris, France (solo)
Younger Abstract Expressionists of the Fifties, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
1969
Galerie Jean Fournier & Cie, Paris, France (solo)
1968
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1967
The Whitney Museum of American Art Annuals and Biennials, New York, NY
Galerie Jean Fournier & Cie, Paris, France (solo)
1965
The Whitney Museum of American Art Annuals and Biennials, New York, NY
Stable Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1962
Paintings by Joan Mitchell, The New Gallery, Hayden Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA (solo)
1961
The Whitney Museum of American Art Annuals and Biennials, New York, NY
Stable Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Joan Mitchell Paintings 1951-61, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL (solo)
Group Show, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
1960
Gallery Neufville, Paris, France
1959
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
The Whitney Museum of American Art Annuals and Biennials, New York, NY
1953–1958
Stable Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Nature in Abstraction, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1957
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
The Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1956–1957
Group Show, The Museum of Modern, Art, New York, NY
1953–1957
The Whitney Museum of American Art Annuals and Biennials, New York, NY
New York Painting and Sculptural Annual, Stable Gallery, New York, NY
1956
Group Show, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Four Younger Americans: Paul Brach, MIchael Goldberg, Robert Goodnough, Joan Mitchell, Sidney Janice Gallery, New York, NY
1955
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
The Whitney Museum of American Art Annuals and Biennials, New York, NY
Vanguard 1955: A Painter’s Selection of New American Painting, Walker Art Center Minneapolis, MN
1953
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1951
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
The Whitney Museum of American Art Annuals and Biennials, New York, NY
New Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
New York Painting and Sculptural Annual, Stable Gallery, New York, NY
1950
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Saint Paul Gallery, St. Paul, MN(solo)
Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA
1949
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1947
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1944
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL