From Mitchell to Mollett
A modern and a contemporary artist who both are bold with colour.
“Abstract is not a style. I simply want to make a surface work.”
- Joan Mitchell
Every year I try to visit Paris, a city that is close to my heart because of its history, its unique atmosphere and of course its diverse and amazing art scene. My last time this year was in February when I visited the city of love with my grand-mother. The main reason why we organised this trip was because we both wanted to see the exhibition of Claude Monet (1840-1926) and Joan Mitchell (1925-1992) in The Louis Vuitton Foundation. The Foundation strikingly juxtapositioned these two artists and showed once again how combining modern and (more) contemporary work can have a magnificent result.
Joan Mitchell was born in 1925, a year before Monet's death and interestingly Francesca Mollett (the ultra-contemporary artist who I am introducing today) was born in 1991, also a year before Mitchell’s death. (I can already sense an exhibition of these 3 coming in 20 years time, and let’s be honest, even their names together work like Magic: Monet, Mitchell and Mollett).
Claude Monet probably doesn’t need introducing but Joan Mitchell often doesn’t ring a bell for many people. Together with e.g. Jackson Pollock she was one of the strong voices of the American abstract expressionists in the 1950’s and 60’s. Mitchell used her full body to swing with her paint brush and with fierce and brusque brushstrokes full of bold colours she expressed her inner world. Her paintings are very confronting, loaded and maybe even ecstatic, especially because they’re also very often incredibly impressive in scale (4 metres by 3 metres is more often the rule than the exception).
Mollett’s paintings are calmer and more balanced but I also recognize the thick and expressive brushstrokes all over the canvas. In the painting underneath, Mollett even opted for a diptych (an artwork consisting of two panels) which is something Mitchell is also famous for. Mollett is in my opinion part of the new generation of incredible and enigmatic abstractionists.
Although Mollett’s paintings are abstract, you can definitely sense that she’s inspired by nature and by capturing light that hits different surfaces, be it the morning dew on the grass during a sunny day or be it the pink sky touching the riverbanks during sundown in the hustle and bustle of the city. It feels as if the painter immerses herself in these spaces and puts her personal experience, her inner world, on the canvas.
And I mean… This combination would work, right?
The Art Market
Francesca Mollett is hot. She only graduated from The Royal College of Art London in 2020 and during the first months of 2023 GRIMM Gallery already announced that they would represent her. I absolutely adore her work, but it’s not easy to get your hands on. Since she’s so young, her works only recently started to join the secondary art market. Until now, only two works have been put on auction and they have already reached dazzling results.
Artwork 1: Untitled (Surfacing) (2021). The estimate of the work was £6K-8K. Phillips sold it in December 2022 for the astonishing amount of almost £82K.
Artwork 2: Centre of Quiet (2021). The estimate of the work was also £6K-8K. Christie’s sold it this year in March for almost £33K.
Exhibitions
Francesca Mollett’s work is on view in GRIMM Gallery in Amsterdam from Friday the 2nd of June until Saturday the 22nd of July. I’m visiting the opening of the exhibition during Amsterdam Art Week in the presence of the artist so check out my Instagram for updates! @how.to.art.by.emily