Christie’s Hong Kong is Proud to Unveil
Leading the 20th and 21st Century Art Evening Sale
Artist’s Auction Debut at Christie’s Asia
During Major International Retrospective
30 November | Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
Hong Kong – As a leading highlight of the 20th and 21st Century Art Evening sale on 30 November, Christie’s proudly unveils Joan Mitchell’s magnificent, iconic masterpiece Untitled with an estimate of HK$80,000,000 - 120,000,000 / US$11,000,000 - 15,000,000, marking the revered female Abstract Expressionist artist’s auction debut at Christie’s Asia. The auction market leader for Joan Mitchell’s work, the sale continues Christie’s track record of presenting the most exceptional Western artists to the Asia region. An artist of global importance and esteem, Untitled comes to auction amidst a major international retrospective of Joan Mitchell’s work. Breathtaking, joyous, and monumental, this is a museum-quality piece by one of the most important female artists of the 20th century.
A work of new-found joy and optimism: Untitled, kaleidoscopic in colour and fervent in gesture, is representative of a clear shift in style and sentiment for Mitchell. The painting is preceded by the artist’s dark and turbulent ‘Black Painting’ series from the early 1960s, which she created during a period of personal, emotional challenge. In Untitled, angst gives way to optimism, and the painting embodies a palpable sense of energy and freedom, radiating with life.
Painted at a pivotal moment in Mitchell’s biography: The artist moved to the French countryside in 1967, to an estate in Vétheuil, near Giverny – the home of Monet for 43 years, and the site of his famed garden and lily pond. The colour, light and bucolic idyll of Vétheuil’s landscape had a profound impact on Mitchell’s work. Conceived in Paris in 1966-67, shortly before Mitchell’s move to the country, Untitled’s vibrant colours and animated linearity sing of the natural world, visualising the essence of what cannot be verbalised – nature’s wild and unabashed complexity.
Abstract Expressionism with European Modernism: Distinguishing herself from her Abstract Expressionist peers, Mitchell’s denial of resolute abstraction led her on a unique artistic trajectory. Untitled encapsulates Mitchell’s ability to meld the gestural dynamism of Abstract Expressionism with themes and philosophies born from European Modernism. In its brush work, Untitled combines spontaneity with consideration, its forms evade specificity, and yet together create a complete and harmonious composition. The painting’s primary and complimentary colours and sense of flora in bloom hark back to Vincent van Gogh, while its reverberating visualisation of a transitory moment in nature is entwined with the legacy of French Impressionism.
A revered and celebrated female artist of the Post-War era: Alongside the likes of Franz Kline and Willem de Kooning, Mitchell was a successful and recognised figure within New York’s Abstract Expressionist scene in the 1950s – a feat at a time when female artists were typically overlooked and undervalued. She was one of the few female members of the exclusive Eighth Street Club, participating in the legendary 9th Street Art Exhibition in 1951, which would prove crucial for championing the Abstract Expressionist movement. After leaving New York for Paris in 1959, Mitchell continued to garner enduring acclaim.
Mitchell’s work is held in the collections of esteemed institutions around the world. The artist possesses a prestigious and extensive exhibition history including the recent, highly-anticipated travelling retrospective at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, currently on view at Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Public Preview:
Singapore | 29 – 30 October | The Arts House At The Old Parliament
New York | 12 – 15 November | 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020
Hong Kong | 26 – 30 November | Convention Hall, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, No.1 Harbour Road, Wanchai
Live Auction:
Hong Kong | 30 November | Convention Hall, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, No.1 Harbour Road, Wanchai
