How the Joan Mitchell Foundation Has Championed The Artist’s Market and Legacy
When it comes to an artist like Joan Mitchell (1925–1992), one could argue that she has been, in recent months, the beneficiary of an overdue art historical reckoning. The postwar painter, known for her important place in the storied Abstract Expressionist school, has seen an explosion in her market.
The 1969 canvas Blueberry set a new auction record for Mitchell in May, selling for $16.625 million on a high estimate of just $7 million at Christie’s New York. In June, Mitchell was the talk of Art Basel in Basel, with $70 million worth of her paintings among the fair’s hottest commodities. According to sales reports, three works sold collectively for somewhere in the region of $35.5 million.
While the fair was still in full swing, the Baltimore Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art announced plans to stage a massive Mitchell retrospective in 2020, the artist’s first in the US in nearly two decades. Despite the timing, this wasn’t a last-minute attempt to capitalize on the artist’s hot streak. Curators Katy Siegel of the BMA and Sarah Roberts of SFMOMA have been working on the exhibition since 2015.
And it’s not as if Mitchell, suddenly a market force, has come out of nowhere. The Joan Mitchell Foundation, which turns 25 this year, has been quietly working behind the scenes to promote the artist’s legacy all along. The foundation’s efforts to encourage scholarship, to exhibit Michell’s work, and to compile a comprehensive catalogue raisonné, have gone a long way toward securing greater recognition of her art historical significance.
Christa Blatchford, the foundation’s CEO, spoke to artnet News about Mitchell’s growing moment, how the foundation’s work has helped to bring the late artist the recognition she deserves, and how it continues to work to fulfill her commitment to supporting other artists...