Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Canadian painter Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2002) and American painter Joan Mitchell (1925-1992) stand alongside Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner in the constellation of romantic and artistic mythologies. This new volume, published to accompany a traveling exhibition, consists of some 60 masterly works, mostly large-format paintings, a few works on paper, and archival material. It explores how the two artists, who shared each other's life for nearly a quarter century, developed highly distinct bodies of work and studio techniques while engaging in a rich dialogue around abstract art. Their work was deeply influenced by the tides of their love affair, which was as stormy as it was seminal. Whether drawing attention to the similarities and differences between works that address the same subject, or motifs and inspirations specific to each, this book paints a splendid portrait of two remarkable figures of the international Abstract movement.
Synopsis
This lavishly illustrated publication is the first to present a side-by-side vision of the two painters despite their twenty-five years spent together and their respective fame. This important catalog is intended as a reference work that synthesizes the creative relationship that united Joan Mitchell (1925-1992), an American painter most often associated with the 1950s New York school's second generation of abstract expressionists, and Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2002), thereby relating the twenty-five-or-so years of shared life (1955-1979) of this extraordinary couple over twenty-five years of production. Written by period and Mitchell and Riopelle specialists, the catalogue will be a tool for readers to hone their appreciation of these two major bodies of work from the second half of the twentieth century. It will also highlight the formal, aesthetic and biographical ties that fueled their respective creative practices. For the first time ever, this publication focuses on their relationship, from their initial encounter in 1955 to their break-up in 1979. Consisting of some sixty masterly works (mostly large-format paintings, a few works on paper, and archival material), this volume will explore how the two artists, who shared each other's life for nearly a quarter of a century, first in Paris and then in V theuil (in the valley of the Seine), developed highly distinct bodies of work and studio techniques while engaging in a rich dialogue around abstract art. Clearly, their taste for the Impressionist legacy, nature, and a certain penchant for being provocative brought them together. Their concept of painting and their methods proved to be highly individualistic, deeply influenced by the tides of their love affair and their relationship to their environment. Whether drawing attention to the similarities and differences between works that address the same subject, or motifs and inspirations specific to each, this book paints a splendid portrait of two remarkable figures of the international Abstract movement. Text in English and French.