Joan Mitchell

Collection of Carl Plansky, New York (gift of the artist)
Private Collection (acquired from the above in January 2004)
Acquired by the present owner from the above

New York, Lennon-Weinberg Gallery, Joan Mitchell: Petit, June - August 2002

This work is in good condition overall. The canvas is unlined. There is craquelure throughout with some areas of associated pigment loss. Those areas where pigment is lifting have been stabilized by a conservator. There are some very minor puncture points along the top and bottom edges of the canvas, possibly due to the artist’s working method. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, there does not appear to be any inpainting. Framed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

“Thicketed at their centers with narrow stabs, smudges, and trickles of blacks and whites complicated with ochres, reds, and verdigris and spatially steadied with soft bruises of violet and blue, they dissolve at their edges into silver blues, misty grays, oyster whites, and bald gessoed ground....One can parse the 1953 paintings for the influences of Kandinsky, Mondrian, Gorky, and de Kooning, and one can note that they marry the permissions of New York painting with the rigor of Analytic Cubism, yet they were fully Mitchell’s own.”

Patricia Alberts cited in Joan Mitchell: A Lady Painter, New York, 2011, p.259