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Joan Mitchell

  • About
  • Works in the Kenneth E. Tyler Collection
  • Chronology
  • Further Reading

Black and white photograph of Joan Mitchell

Portrait of Joan Mitchell, 1991
Gift of Kenneth Tyler 2002
Photographer: Marabeth Cohen-Tyler

Joan Mitchell was born in Chicago in 1925. Her art studies took her to Smith College in Massachusetts from 1942–44, and then back to Chicago where she studied at the Art Institute until 1947. Mitchell then moved to New York where she was a part of the early 1950s avant–garde group of artists that included Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. In 1955, after travelling in Europe and becoming particularly enamoured with France, Mitchell lived between France and the United States, finally settling in France in 1968. Mitchell’s work is characterised by the gestural immediacy and emotional intensity typical of the Abstract Expressionists. The work of French impressionist painters Monet and Cézanne, as well as the Dutch Van Gogh, were also significant influences, and she focused much of her work upon landscape.

Though her work was primarily executed on large canvases and, later in her career, often divided into polyptychs, she also worked in print media. At Tyler Graphics in 1992, Mitchell collaborated with Ken Tyler on a book that illuminated the poetry of Nathan Kernan. The book is composed of eight lithographs in a cloth–covered box, with a paper folio made from recycled proofs from previous projects Mitchell had completed at Tyler Graphics.

Emilie Owens

Works in the Kenneth E. Tyler Collection


  • Joan Mitchell

    Weeds I
    1992

  • Joan Mitchell

    Trees V-A
    1992

  • Joan Mitchell

    Bedford II
    1981

Browse all works by Joan Mitchell

Chronology


1925 Born in Chicago, Illinois, United States of America

1942–46 Attends Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts

1944–50 Attends the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; receives Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1947 and Masters of Fine Arts in 1950

1947 Receives Edward L. Ryerson Travelling Fellowship from Art Institute of Chicago for study in Paris, France

1950 Solo exhibition, at Saint Paul Gallery, Minnesota

1951 Moves to New York City, New York

1955 Returns to Paris

1957 Included in Annual exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago; Annual exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

1958 Included in Venice biennale, Italy

1959 Included Biennial of São-Paulo, Brazil; moves to Paris

1961 Included in exhibition, American Abstract Expressionists and imagists, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City

1966 Included in travelling exhibition, Two decades of American painting, organised by Museum of Modern Art International Council, New York City

1969 Moves studio from Paris to Vétheuil, France, a village Impressionist painter Claude Monet lived in before moving to nearby Giverny

1973 Included in Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

1974 Retrospective exhibition, Joan Mitchell, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City; receives Brandeis University Creative Arts Award, citation in painting

1980 Included in exhibition, The fifties: painting in New York 1950–1960 at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

1981 Completes Bedford series lithographs at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Bedford Village, New York; included in Biennial exhibition, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1983 Included in Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City; included in exhibition, The American artist as printmaker: the 23rd annual print exhibition, Brooklyn Museum, New York City

1984 Included in exhibition, Prints from Tyler Graphics, at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

1988 Travelling exhibition, The paintings of Joan Mitchell: thirty-six years of Natural Expressionism, originating at Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

1989 Included in exhibition, Ken Tyler: 25 glorious years, Heland Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden

1991 Receives le Grands Prix de la Ville de Paris in painting; included in Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

1992 Solo exhibition, Joan Mitchell: pastel, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City; included in travelling exhibition, Innovation in collaborative printmaking: Kenneth Tyler, 1963–1992, originating at Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan; completes lithograph series’, Sunflowers, Trees and small intaglio prints at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York. Joan Mitchell died in Paris, France

Barbara Delano © Tyler Graphics Ltd.
This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.

Further Reading


EXHIBITION

  • Joan Mitchell, 2021
  • Lichtenstein to Warhol: The Kenneth Tyler Collection, 2019–20
  • Behind the Scenes: Tyler Graphics at work, 2015–16

VIDEO

  • Joan Mitchell
  • Joan Mitchell: Worlds of Colour

NATIONAL GALLERY PUBLICATIONS

  • Joan Mitchell: Worlds of colour, Anja Loughhead (ed.), exhibition catalogue, 2021
  • Lichtenstein to Warhol: The Kenneth Tyler Collection, Jane Kinsman, exhibition catalogue, 2019
  • Workshop: The Kenneth Tyler Collection, Jane Kinsman (ed.), 2015

TYLER GRAPHICS PUBLICATIONS

  • Poems, 1992
  • Bedford series, 1991

KENNETH TYLER ARCHIVE

  • The Last Prints, Susan Sheehan Gallery, 2007

RELATED LINKS

  • Joan Mitchell Foundation

Related


Exhibition

Joan Mitchell
Worlds of Colour

Past Exhibition
Abstract painting of red black and yellow

13 Feb—26 Apr 2021

The Kenneth Tyler Collection /  Video

Joan Mitchell: Worlds of Colour

A video still of a man and woman standing in front of artworks on a studio wall

Published 12 February 2021

Archival footage from the Kenneth Tyler Collection included in the 2021 exhibition Joan Mitchell: Worlds of Colour.

As the mind sees it

Joan Mitchell sits on a stool in front of two large painted canvasses

A house in France brought different inspirations to Joan Mitchell and Claude Monet, writes David Greenhalgh.

Read Time 13 minutes
The Kenneth E. Tyler Collection

Painting Joan Mitchell

Kenneth Tyler and Joan Mitchell with proofs of Mitchell’s ‘Fields’, ‘Trees’ and ‘Weeds’ works hanging in the background.

Julia Greenstreet discusses Joan Mitchell's career, friendships, and tenacious spirit.

Read Time 24 minutes
The Kenneth E. Tyler Collection

Frank Stella: The Kenneth Tyler Print Collection

Photograph of Frank Stella: The Kenneth E. Tyler Print Collection at the Orde Poyton Gallery

‘Frank Stella: The Kenneth Tyler Print Collection’ shares the full trajectory of Frank Stella’s innovative printmaking career.

Read Time 6 minutes
The Kenneth E. Tyler Collection

Insiders: a printer’s perspective – Anthony Kirk

Colour photograph of Anthony Kirk arranging Joan Mitchell proofs on table with numerous Mitchell proofs on walls

Anthony Kirk shares memories from his 20 year career as the head of the etching department at Tyler Graphics

Read Time 11 minutes

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