Description: Dedicated to Joan Mitchell's remarkable paintings from 1960 to 1965, this richly produced catalogue illuminates a pivotal chapter in the internationally acclaimed artist's career.
After settling permanently in France in 1959, the American painter Joan Mitchell embarked on a period of radical experimentation that diverged dramatically from her earlier work, replacing structured compositional frameworks with more untamed, atmospheric forms. She began spending long stretches living on a sailboat along the Côte d'Azur, absorbing the effects of the shifting light, water, and rugged coastlines of the Mediterranean. Back in her Paris studio, these experiences gave rise to daring and moody canvases that engaged with landscape more directly and visibly than she ever had before. Characterized by dense, central currents of deep greens and blues that veil luminous colors beneath, the paintings of this period pulse with turbulence and lyricism. The poet John Ashbery described them as "an unhurried meditation on bits of landscape and air," capturing Mitchell's ability to translate sensation and memory into paint. This catalogue, published on the occasion of the exhibition To define a feeling: Joan Mitchell, 1960-1965 at David Zwirner, New York, explores how these works advanced her approach to structure and color while engaging the enduring themes that define her oeuvre. The volume features an introduction and an essay by the exhibition's curator, Sarah Roberts, a text by Saul Nelson on the relationship of critic Clement Greenberg's criticism to Mitchell's work, and exhibition reviews from the 1960s by Ashbery and Pierre Schneider, offering rich historical context for this transformative moment in the artist's career.Brief description: Sarah Roberts joined the Joan Mitchell Foundation in June 2024 as Senior Director of Curatorial Affairs. She previously served as the Andrew W. Mellon Curator and Head of Painting and Sculpture at SFMOMA, where she co-curated Joan Mitchell (2021-2022), a major traveling retrospective with a catalogue co-authored with Katy Siegel. She served as primary author and research director of SFMOMA's Rauschenberg Research Project (2013), and co-curated the museum's 2017 presentation of the retrospective Robert Rauschenberg: Erasing the Rules. Other exhibitions include Amy Sherald: American Sublime (2024-2026); Louise Bourgeois Spiders (2017-2019); and Carol Bove and John Chamberlain: Converse (2019-2020).