This week at Shapero Modern we are spotlighting the work of Joan Mitchell. Celebrated for her large-scale abstract expressionist paintings, Mitchell's professional career spanned over four decades.
She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago before dividing her time between the United States and France enjoying both critical and commercial success from the 1950s onwards. Influenced by European modernists such as Cézanne and Van Gogh, Mitchell maintained a connection to figurative references. Landscape and the natural world were her defining subjects, and she used abstraction to convey emotion and memory. In this way, her work sits firmly between American and French artistic developments maintaining a dialogue between these two.
Flower III, 1981
Lithograph in colours, on wove paper.
In 1951 her work was included in the landmark '9th Street Show' in New York, alongside Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock. Pollock, often championed as the figurehead of abstract expressionism, used abstraction to evoke action and urgency. Both artists share a strong sense of physicality, but Mitchell’s approach invites contemplation. This quality comes largely from her brushwork and her preference for structured compositions with clearly defined areas of colour. She also made deliberate use of white space, which, reflecting her poetic influences, acts like punctuation for the viewer.
Fields III, 1993
Etching with aquatint in colours, on wove paper
Her significant solo exhibitions include Joan Mitchell at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1974), and Joan Mitchell: Choix de peintures, 1970–1982 at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (1982), which made her the first American woman to have a solo exhibition at the museum.
Bedford III, 1981
Lithograph in colours, on wove paper
Visit us at our gallery at 94 New Bond Street to view our collection of Joan Mitchell in person.
