Review by Choice Review
Produced in conjunction with a traveling exhibition by the same name and organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, this exhibition and catalog celebrate the art and life of American second-generation abstract expressionist Mitchell, providing a survey of her career from 1951 to 1992. Independent curator Livingston, who played a major role in organizing the exhibition, contributes an introductory essay that blends personal reminiscence with biographical details of the artist's life. Prominent art historian Nochlin (NYU Institute of Fine Arts) provides an essay titled "A Rage to Paint," centered on the expression of emotion in Mitchell's work compared to that of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. A final essay by Lee, assistant curator at the Whitney, examines Mitchell's Grande Vallee Suite of works (completed after the artist moved to France) in detail. Lee's essay complements Nochlin's nicely; it examines Mitchell's interest in painting as similar to music and capable of transcending death. Large plates and details beautifully reproduce the color and texture of Mitchell's paintings. A selected exhibition history is also included. Highly recommended for all art library and museum collections. E. K. Menon Purdue University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Why wasn't the work of abstract expressionist painter Joan Mitchell (1926-92) fully appreciated during her lifetime? And what goes on in her magnificently energetic and boldly chromatic compositions, works in which chaos seethes against containment, and feeling runs high? Curator and author Livingston, whose last book illuminated the work of Richard Diebenkorn, seeks answers in her vivid portrait of the artist, whom she describes as an "utterly singular, sometimes over-the-top baroque master of oil paint." She briskly chronicles Mitchell's privileged Chicago childhood, passion for literature, and rapid development as a classically trained and abstractly inclined painter. Independent, volatile, outspoken yet "strangely" inarticulate about her work, Mitchell fled New York's intrusive art world for France, where she painted with undiminished conviction in spite of traumatic losses and serious illness. Curator Yvette Y. Lee focuses on key paintings of Mitchell's, while renowned art historian Linda Nochlin offers an acute study of rage and women's paintings in general, and, in particular, Mitchell's compositions, gorgeously reproduced here in vibrant color, observing that "from their brazen refusal of harmonious resolution rises their blazing glory." --Donna Seaman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
This catalog accompanies the first solo exhibition of the paintings of Joan Mitchell (1926-92) in New York City in over 20 years. (The event will be at the Whitney until the end of this month and then will travel to Birmingham, AL, Forth Worth, TX, and Washington, DC.) Though considered a foremost abstract expressionist, Mitchell disliked being affiliated with the movement and especially objected to being viewed as a woman artist. Using Mitchell's journals and correspondence, Livingston (Richard Avedon, etc.) follows the evolution of Mitchell's painting and discusses her technique, which showed more concern with color than with the integrity of the medium. Taking a feminist approach, Linda Nochlin demonstrates that Mitchell's rage at being viewed as a "feminine other" was transformed into a positive energy that brought emotional intensity to her paintings. And Whitney curator Yvette Lee discusses the "Grand Valle" series of 16 paintings (1983-84) as some of Mitchell's most luminous and lyrical. This book compares well with the first monograph on Mitchell, Judith Bernstock's Joan Mitchell, which also contains high-quality color reproductions and scholarly essays. The Bernstock book, however, focuses more on the artist's paintings in relation to the poetry that she loved. Recommended for all libraries that collect books on art.-Sandra Rothenberg, Framingham State Coll. Lib., MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
