On August 4th at the Baltimore Museum of Art, I saw the comprehensive and inspiring Joan Mitchell show, co-organized by BMA and San Francisco Musum of Modern Art. Mitchell attained critical acclaim and commercial success in the 1950s male-dominated New York art scene. She then spent almost 40 years in France painting enormous, stunning abstract works inspired by her surrounding landscapes, her memories, poetry and music that she loved. From artbma.org/exhibition/joan-mitchell...
"The exhibition features 70 works—from rarely seen early paintings and drawings to multi-panel masterpieces that immerse viewers with their symphonic color. Highlights such as To the Harbormaster (1956) and South (1989) evoke urban environments and the lush French countryside, while %No Rai%n (1976) and Sunflowers (1990-91) engage with the legacy of Vincent Van Gogh. Two enormous multi-panel paintings, Ode to Joy (A Poem by Frank O’Hara) (1970-71) and La Vie en Rose (1979), demonstrate Mitchell’s passion for poetry and music. The exhibition reiterates these artistic connections with an immersive soundscape that includes quotes taken from Mitchell’s writing and interviews and literature and music significant to the artist..."
Co-curated by Katy Siegel, BMA Senior Programming Curator and Thaw Chair of Modern Art at Stony Brook University, and Sarah Roberts, SFMOMA Andrew W. Mellon Curator and Head of Painting and Sculpture
