Joan Mitchell

American, 1925-1992

Blue Territory

Joan Mitchell (American, 1925–1992). Blue Territory, 1972. Oil on canvas, 103 x 71 inches (261.62 x 180.34 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1972. Conservation funded by grant from the Bank of America Art Conservation Project. (K1972:7). © Estate of Joan Mitchell

© Estate of Joan Mitchell

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

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© Estate of Joan Mitchell

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Estate of Joan Mitchell

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Blue Territory, 1972

Artwork Details

Materials

oil on canvas

Measurements

support: 103 x 71 inches (261.62 x 180.34 cm); framed: 103 1/2 x 72 x 2 1/4 inches (262.89 x 182.88 x 5.72 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Credit

Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1972.

Accession ID

K1972:7

In 1955, Joan Mitchell began dividing her time between New York and France. She settled in Vétheuil, a small countryside town outside of Paris, in 1968 and continuously worked there until the end of her life. Impressionist Claude Monet lived and painted in this same quiet and serene location during the late 1870s. Inspired directly by Mitchell’s sense of place in Vétheuil, Blue Territory is part of her “Fields” series painted between 1971 and 1972. Here, Mitchell divided her canvas into rectangular areas of color. However, the overall composition essentially reads as a landscape. The artist has said of her work, “It comes from and is about landscape, not about me.” Throughout this composition, Mitchell built up areas of pigment—some applied in glossy, thick layers, others dissolving in thin veils and drips. Despite the richness of Mitchell’s brushwork, the gravitational pull on dribbles of paint lends this sizeable tableau a stable and somewhat serene air.