Joan Mitchell

Allo, Amelie

American artist Joan Mitchell, who was often associated with Abstract Expressionism, found profound inspiration in the countryside of Vétheuil, a pastoral town in France where she moved in 1959. Among her favored subjects to paint from the landscape were sunflowers (Mitchell was fond of Vincent van Gogh’s iconic paintings of the flower). Her 1973 painting Allo, Amélie celebrated the birth of the granddaughter of her former partner Jean-Paul Riopelle. The composition also reflects their shared artistic evolution: Mitchell’s incorporation of Riopelle’s impasto technique is evident in the thick application of yellow and brown paint to animate sunflower petals. While Mitchell’s abstract landscape paintings reference the views that were outside her window, the artist painted memories, inspired by feelings associated with her experiences in nature.