Joan Mitchell
Tournesols

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Artist Joan Mitchell (American, 1925–1992)American, 1925–1992

CultureAmerican

Titles

Tournesols
Sunflowers

Date1976

PlaceFrance

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions110 1/4 × 78 7/8 in. (280 × 200.3 cm)

Credit LineBequest of Caroline Wiess Law

Object number2004.46

Not on view

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Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Object Type

PAINTING

DescriptionJoan Mitchell was among the second wave
of painters who came of age in the wake of
Abstract Expressionism, and she exhibited
with many of the New York School artists.
However, she ultimately took an independent
path, moving to Paris in 1959 before settling
in Vétheuil in 1968, near Claude Monet’s
Giverny studio. Mitchell launched into her
Sunflowers series the following year, stating
that she wanted her paintings to “to convey
the feeling of the dying sunflower,” rich with
both color and a sense of the passage of time.
ProvenanceThe artist; [Xavier Fourcade, Inc., New York]; [Meredith Long & Company, Houston]; purchased by Theodore N. Law and Caroline Wiess Law, Houston, September 26, 1988, until his d. 1989; Caroline Wiess Law, Houston, until d. 2003; bequeathed to MFAH, 2004.

Exhibition History"Joan Mitchell: New Paintings," Xavier Fourcade, Inc., New York, November 23–December 31, 1976.

"A Spirited Vision: Highlights of the Bequest of Caroline Wiess Law to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 22–April 25, 2004.

Rotating collection displays, 2004 - 2019.

"Inaugural Exhibition: The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Houston: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 14, 2020, to the present.

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Marked on lower right recto: "Joan Mitchell"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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