A Look Back

Of her life’s passion and work, artist Joan Mitchell ’46 once said, “Painting is what allows me to survive.”

Though Mitchell died at age 67 in 1992, three museums around the world are collaborating on an extensive celebration of her art in the form of a traveling posthumous exhibit. Showcasing many of her stunning abstract oil paintings and drawings, the Joan Mitchell retrospective brings together works from public and private collections. Having already appeared at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the exhibit is currently on display at the Baltimore Museum of Art until August 2022. Its final stop will be the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, where it will remain through February 2023.

JOAN MITCHELL
Joan Mitchell ’46
joanmitchellfoundation.org

This story appears as part of the Smithies Create column in the Spring 2022 issue of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly.

Joan Mitchell ’46 with her unfinished La Grande Vallée VI, left, and La Grande Vallée II. Photograph by Robert Freson, Joan Mitchell Foundation Archives