So what’s the connection between Mitchell and Monet considering they never met? Why is one’s work so reminiscent of the other’s? And bear in mind that Mitchell started off an interview in 1957 by saying: “Monet isn’t really my cup of tea. I’m not really a fan of his work.” She went on to correct herself a few minutes later, adding: “I like Monet’s later work but not his earlier stuff.”

Reflection:

While there is no doubt that Monet drew inspiration from the water lily pond in his garden, you have to look a bit harder to find this motif in Mitchell’s abstract paintings. The reflections on Lake Michigan in her home town of Chicago definitely shaped her work, though.

Vétheuil:

The two artists lived in the same little town to the north-west of Paris albeit at completely different times (Monet in 1878–1881 and Mitchell in 1967).

Poetry:

Both artists loved poetry. Mitchell’s mother was a poet called Marion Strobel, who was the editor of Poetry Magazine. The artist often compared her paintings to poetry – and that didn’t just come down to the fact that she actually incorporated poems into her artwork at times. In the exhibition, you can see a series of four works that contain excerpts from poems by Jacques Dupin.

Monet owned a huge library of his own with 700 books – and 48 poetry collections – inside. Both artists drew inspiration from the work of Baudelaire and Proust. Monet was actually friends with Zola and Mallarmé.

Final series:

On the path to world fame – driven by illness and loss

Joan Mitchell produced her large cycle within the space of just two years. Edrita Fried, Joan Mitchell’s close friend and psychotherapist, died in 1981. And Mitchell lost her sister just a year later. The artist herself suffered from arthritis and mouth cancer that spread to her lungs.

She spoke about the pain she was in with her friend Gisèle Barreau, who told her about La Grande Vallée, an area near Nantes. And she described the memories she still had of that wild and rugged landscape – of the fields, flora and fauna.

Feeling inspired, Mitchell painted 21 works of art in 1983 and 1984. It was that cycle that gained her international renown. And you can admire 10 of the paintings in the exhibition.

Even people who have absolutely no clue about art are usually able to associate Monet with his water lilies. It’s no wonder given that he painted 250 oil paintings in that series between 1889 and 1926.

He called the most spectacular of them the Grandes Decorations. His work on these huge masterpieces didn’t start until 1915, after he had been affected by the loss of his second wife (1911) and his eldest son (1914). He was also struggling increasingly with the cataract that impaired his vision.

Before his death, Monet was often ripped apart by harsh critics. It wasn’t until the 1950s that the artist and his water lilies were given the recognition they so rightly deserved. Monet went on to influence the abstract expressionism movement over in the USA.