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Joan Mitchell — “I try to eliminate clichés, extraneous material. I try to make it exact. My painting is not an allegory or a story. It is more like a poem." Joan Mitchell
Joan Mitchell

“I try to eliminate clichés, extraneous material. I try to make it exact. My painting is not an allegory or a story. It is more like a poem." Joan Mitchell

1958

Rendered in sweeping, gestural brushstrokes of vivid color, this large-scale oil on canvas pulses with raw emotional energy, reflecting Mitchell's deep connection to memory, nature, and feeling rather than literal representation. Thick impasto passages of cobalt, emerald, and ochre collide and cascade across the surface, building a visual rhythm that is simultaneously turbulent and lyrical. Like the poet she aspired to be, Mitchell distills sensation into pure painterly expression, inviting the viewer to experience rather than interpret.

Medium
oil on canvas

🔨 Auction Lot

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

November 16, 2016

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Spotted works by Joan Mitchell

About this work

Joan Mitchell, “I try to eliminate clichés, extraneous material. I try to make it exact. My painting is not an allegory or a story. It is more like a poem." Joan Mitchell, 1958

Rendered in sweeping, gestural brushstrokes of vivid color, this large-scale oil on canvas pulses with raw emotional energy, reflecting Mitchell's deep connection to memory, nature, and feeling rather than literal representation. Thick impasto passages of cobalt, emerald, and ochre collide and cascade across the surface, building a visual rhythm that is simultaneously turbulent and lyrical. Like the poet she aspired to be, Mitchell distills sensation into pure painterly expression, inviting the viewer to experience rather than interpret.

Medium
oil on canvas
Year
1958
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Expressive Brushwork, Large Format Canvas, Mid Century Modern, Lyrical Abstraction, Emotional Intensity, Non-Representational Art, Non-Representational, Post-War Art, Gestural Painting, Vibrant Color Palette, Gestural Brushwork, Large Format Painting, Large Scale Painting, American Artist, Abstract Expressionism, Gestural Abstraction, Female Artist, Oil on Canvas

More works by Joan Mitchell

Collected by

Art Institute of Chicago