Monet Mitchell : Les Couleurs De La Lumière

Exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, 5 October 2022 - 27 February 2023

The Water Lilies by Claude Monet (1914-1926) found recognition in the 1950s in the United States, where they were seen as precursors of abstraction by the painters of abstract expressionism. André Masson and then the American critic Clement Greenberg took a stand in defence of their modernity.

In this context of "Monet Revival", Joan Mitchell (1925-1992) took part in exhibitions in 1957 and 1958 devoted to the notion of "abstract impressionism". The rapprochement between the two artists was strengthened by Joan Mitchell's installation in 1968, in Vétheuil, in a property close to the one where Monet lived from 1878 to 1881. Although, faced with the same landscape on the banks of the Seine, the two artists share an acute sensitivity to light and colour, the interplay of which forms the basis of their art, Joan Mitchell has nevertheless claimed total artistic independence.

Through some sixty emblematic works by both artists, this exhibition catalogue offers a dialogue between Claude Monet's late works, which anticipate the beginnings of abstraction, and the paintings of Joan Mitchell. Essays analyse the points of convergence related to colour, light, gesturality, nature and the landscapes of Giverny and Vétheuil, which deeply inspired both artists.