Fondation Louis Vuitton presents grandiose “Monet – Mitchell” exhibitions
The Fondation Louis Vuitton is inaugurating the “Monet – Mitchell” exhibitions on October 5. The exhibitions run until February 27, 2023. This dialogue between 35 works by Claude Monet (1840-1926) and 25 works (25 paintings and 10 pastels) by Joan Mitchell (1925-1992) is joined by an exhibition of 50 works by the American artist. The result is a compelling poetic and visual dialogue between two exceptional artists.
Organized in partnership with the Musée Marmottan Monet, the dialogue stages a dialogue between the late period (1914-1926) of the Impressionist icon, and the work of American artist Joan Mitchell, a seminal figure in the modernity introduced by the Abstract Expressionism school in the United States.
Through a selection of emblematic paintings by the two artists, the exhibition offers an enchanting journey that resonates with a retrospective of Joan Mitchell’s work, organized in conjunction with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Inspired by the nature and landscapes of Île-de-France, the greater Paris region, Monet and Mitchell shared an acute sensitivity to light and colors, the interplay of which figures at the very essence of their art. Closely observing nature and the landscape, his garden for Monet, the banks of the Seine for Mitchell they developed a pictorial approach that they articulated in similar terms, with Monet evoking “sensation” and Mitchell “feelings”. Transcending a simple imitation of nature, both artists explored sensations, emotions and memories through a studied juxtaposition of colors.
The exhibition culminates with two exceptional ensembles. Claude Monet’s Water Lilies (Agapanthus) triptych (circa 1915–1926) is displayed in its entirety for the first time ever in France, while ten masterpieces from Joan Mitchell’s cycle have been brought together in spectacular fashion, several decades after some of them were shown in 1984.
Inspired since its inauguration in 2014 by a commitment to serving the public, the Fondation Louis Vuitton continues to make art and culture accessible to the broadest possible audience. Actively promoting the arts both in France and internationally, the Foundation hosts temporary exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, presents works from its own collection, commissions site-specific pieces from artists, and stages events across the spectrum of arts and culture.
