Three-Day Symposium and Exhibitions Honor Joan Mitchell's Legacy in New Orleans

From April 9-11, 2010, a symposium in New Orleans celebrated the life and work of abstract expressionist painter Joan Mitchell. The event was co-organized by Tulane University's Newcomb Art Gallery and the Joan Mitchell Foundation. Three concurrent exhibitions showcased her major bodies of work: paintings at the New Orleans Museum of Art, works on paper at the Newcomb Art Gallery, and prints at the Contemporary Arts Center. Guest speakers included art historians Ann Gibson, Irving Sandler, Robert Storr, and artist-author Mâkhi Xenakis. Mitchell, born in Chicago in 1925, moved to New York in 1950 and became part of the New York School before relocating to Vetheuil, a Parisian suburb, in the late 1950s. She worked there until her death in 1992. Her expressive paintings, often large-scale or multi-panel, use long strokes and color stains to convey natural feelings, famously described as capturing "the feeling of the dying sunflower." The symposium featured film screenings and reminiscences from friends of the artist.