JOAN MITCHELL (AMERICAN 1925-1992)

JOAN MITCHELL (AMERICAN 1925-1992)
Landscape #150, circa 1949
oil on canvas
81 x 100 cm (31 7/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
framed dimensions: 85 x 105 cm (33 1/2 x 41 3/8 in.)
signed lower right

PROVENANCE
Gift from the artist to Tim Osato, Chicago, in the early 1950s
Thence by descent
Private Collection, until 1979
Sotheby's New York, March 15, 2006 lot 5
Private Collection, New York

LOT NOTES
A gift from the artist to her lover and friend Tim Osato, Landscape #150 is an early Joan Mitchell work that can be traced to Mitchell's 1950s experiments with Cubism and different ways of thinking about space that would lead her to forming her unique style and gaining a reputation as one of the most prominent abstract expressionist painters.
Born in Chicago, Mitchell grew up taking classes at the Art Institute of Chicago (SIAC) where she got exposed to van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Cezanne and decided to be a painter. Later she received her BFA and MFA from SIAC as well, and graduated with a travel award scholarship to France.

In 1948 Joan Mitchell moved to Paris to immerse herself in French Impressionist heritage that was so influential to her during her school years. Upon her return to New York in 1950s she continued to experiment with the complexity of space, injecting her works with senses and trying to work her way from abstracting reality to creating abstract imagery. Landscape #150 is one of such works. "She abstracted form, but stayed close to observe realities. She did not radically distort form or figures, nor did she portray them from multiple vantage points. Instead she stripped her figures and objects of specific features, paired them to physical and, increasingly, psychological essences, and sank them into webs of lines and planes, developing a complex spacial sensibility that would carry on the structure of her work for the rest of her life." (Robert Siegel, Joan Mitchell, (New Heaven: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, Yale University Press, 2021), p.24

Later Mitchell achieved remarkable success in her lifetime, exhibiting regularly in New York and Paris. Her works are in collections of The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art, and other major institutions since the 1950s. Her works were the subject of a mid-career retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum in 1974. In 1982, Mitchell became the first female American artist to have a solo exhibition at the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
Condition Report: CONDITIONObserved in frame, the work is in good condition, some minor rubbing along the perimeter of the canvas, a small area of paint loss middle right, minor surface craquelure, dust and soiling. UV light inspection showed a couple of minuscule spots that could have been potentially retouched. N.B. All lots are sold in as-is condition at the time of sale. Please note that any condition statement regarding works of art is given as a courtesy to our clients in order to assist them in assessing the condition. The report is a genuine opinion held by Shapiro Auctions and should not be treated as a statement of fact. The absence of a condition report or a photograph does not preclude the absence of defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. Shapiro Auctions, LLC., including its consultants and agents, shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.