Minnesota 1980

Joan Mitchell made this large canvas painting, Minnesota, using oil paint, in no particular year. Looking at this piece, I can almost feel the energy Mitchell put into it. There are large gestures of vibrant yellows dancing across the canvas, contrasted against deeper blues and blacks at the bottom. It’s not hard to imagine her standing here, brush in hand, trying to capture the essence of a landscape, a feeling, a memory… There's a kind of call-and-response happening: Mitchell lays down a stroke, then answers it with another, each mark reacting to what came before. I imagine her dialogue with artists like Monet or Van Gogh. You know, those impressionistic brushstrokes are there, but they’re pushed further, right? They’re translated through Mitchell’s own unique language. This approach emphasizes painting as a dynamic process of mark-making and intuitive exploration. It suggests that paintings are not just representations of the world, but sites of inquiry and engagement for both the artist and the viewer.