Joan Mitchell

Born in 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, Joan Mitchell attended Smith College and the Art Institute of Chicago before moving to New York in 1947. She came into contact with the Abstract Impressionist painters while she was attending Hans Hoffman’s painting classes in New York and by 1948 she had gained a reputation as one of the leading members of the “second generation” painters of the New York School.

In 1959 Mitchell moved to France and settled in Vétheuil in a house once occupied by Claude Monet, where she continued to work until her death in 1992. Color plays a crucial role in Mitchell’s paintings and prints.