The Paintings of Joan Mitchell

by Livingston, Jane

• ISBN13: 9780520235700
• ISBN10: 0520235703
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Joan Mitchell (1926-1992) was one of the few women among the first-rank Abstract Expressionist painters. She outpaced all but a handful of her male mentors and counterparts, while only Lee Krasner stands as a possible rival among her female counterparts. Although well regarded by critics, fellow artists, and the general public, Mitchell's achievement has never received full recognition; her work has not been shown in New York for more than twenty-five years. This exquisitely illustrated volume and the exhibition that it accompanies restore the artist to her rightful place in the history of American painting. Spanning Mitchell's entire career, from early works of 1951 until the year of her death,The Paintings of Joan Mitchellincludes a wealth of breathtaking paintings, both intimate and grand in scale, that reveal Mitchell's fierce dedication to her art and reflect both the struggles and the artistic triumphs she achieved with her distinctive vision of Abstract Expressionism. Jane Livingston draws on the artist's personal papers, including her journals and extensive correspondence, to provide an illuminating interpretation of the artist and her work. Linda Nochlin, who was a friend of Mitchell, discusses the artist's experience working in a field dominated by men. A third text by Whitney Curator Yvette Lee explores a distinctive and little-known suite of paintings entitledLa Grande Valleacute;e,created in 1983-84. Mounted with the full cooperation of the estate of Joan Mitchell, the exhibition contains many paintings rarely seen before--and in some cases never publicly exhibited. This book includes an exhibition history; an extensive artist bibliography of related monographs, reviews, and filmed interviews; and color plates and listing of all the works appearing in the exhibition.

Author Biography

Jane Livingston is an independent author and curator whose work has ranged widely over many aspects of modern and contemporary art Linda Nochlin, Lila Acheson Wallace Professor of Modern Art at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts Yvette Y. Lee is assistant curator for special projects at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where she has been on staff since 1994

Table of Contents

Foreword	7	(2)
Maxwell L. Anderson
The Paintings of Joan Mitchell	9	(40)
Jane Livingston
Joan Mitchell A Rage to Paint	49	(12)
Linda Nochlin
``Beyond Life and Death'' Joan Mitchell's Grande Vallee Suite	61	(18)
Yvette Y. Lee
Plates	79	(119)
Works in the Exhibition	198	(5)
Selected Exhibition History	203	(14)
Selected Bibliography	217	(13)
Lenders to the Exhibition	230	(1)
Acknowledgments	231	(3)
Index	234