Joan Mitchell

Joan Mitchell established herself as a prominent second-generation Abstract Expressionist known for her abstracted landscapes. La Seine, the first work in her Seine series, was the first panoramic painting created after her move to France in 1954. Consisting of four panels of vibrant colors in heavy impasto, it is the only work of art in the Empire State Plaza Art Collection to suggest a horizon line.  Unlike the landscapes of French Impressionism, Mitchell’s abstracted landscapes were not painted en plein air or with preparatory sketches; rather, Mitchell painted her landscapes from memory, translating her emotions through the act of painting.

Title: La Seine
Date: 1967
Medium: oil on canvas, quadriptych
Dimensions: 76.5 x 165.5 inches
Accession Number: P70.3.4
Location: Corning Tower Concourse Level

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