Joan Mitchell, Megan Rooney - PAINTING FROM NATURE

This presentation, part of the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s “Hors-les-murs” programme showcasing holdings of the Collection at the Espaces Louis Vuitton in Tokyo, Munich, Venice, Beijing, Seoul, and Osaka, carries out the Fondation’s mission to reach a broader public through international projects.

Now regarded as one of the most vibrant voices in 20th-century painting, Joan Mitchell developed her oeuvre between the United States and France. Emerging in the context of Abstract Expressionism, she was one of its few female representatives. Her connection with France, both artistic and emotional, was profound. Influenced by Monet, Van Gogh, and Cezanne, she settled in Paris in 1959 and later found her artistic maturity in Vétheuil from 1968. Mitchell's technique, rooted in Abstract Expressionism, evolved into a distinctive style characterized by vigorous brushstrokes and a vibrant, tumultuous palette. Her gestural approach involved sweeping, dynamic movements that conveyed immediacy and emotional intensity. A significant aspect of her work was her exploration of colour and light, using hues to evoke emotions and modulating light through contrasting colours to add luminosity. Her intimate relationship with landscapes was another defining feature. 

Drawing inspiration from her surroundings in Vétheuil, she translated these landscapes into abstract forms with emotional and sensory resonance. "I carry my landscapes around with me," she said, emphasizing the centrality of nature in her vision. The 2022 retrospective by the Fondation Louis Vuitton highlighted her unique painting style. Nourished by memories and emotions amplified by her knowledge of great masters, Mitchell's art also found sources in music and poetry. Her works resonate with rhythm and lyricism, reflecting her deep engagement with these forms and enriching the emotional depth and complexity of her paintings.

Born in South Africa, Megan Rooney spent part of her childhood in Brazil before moving to Canada and eventually settling in London, England, where she has lived since 2014. In her works, she sets pictorial matter into motion, applying it to canvases and walls alike. Regardless of the support or format, the act of painting is a physical, almost performative engagement that culminates in her monumental paintings. In 2022, merging painting, architecture, and performance, Rooney appropriated a gallery at the Fondation Louis Vuitton for the exhibition Fugues in Colour to invent a pictorial landscape whose non-figuration is nevertheless always based on the evocation of reality. Armed with a variety of tools, the artist applied paint directly onto the walls, creating an immersive space of vibrant colours, responding to gestures driven by the body in harmony with the location. Her works, with their atmospheric and geological qualities, are the result of a long process involving different mediums (oil, acrylic, pastel). On fluid or denser colours applied with acrylic or oil, the artist returns with pastel sticks to draw lines and transform her painting. Rooney explores the density of a rich and colourful palette, whose nuances blend into harmonious or dissonant accords. Allusions to real spaces and nature may even subtly emerge.

The Espace Louis Vuitton Beijing proudly celebrates the centenary of Mitchell's birth by juxtaposing her works with those of Rooney, highlighting the profound connections and dialogues between their artistic practices. Both artists embrace large-scale, gestural painting that engages their entire bodies. Mitchell’s dynamic brushstrokes and Rooney’s traces of physical movement—such as handprints—reveal the artists’ intimate connections with their work. Rooney’s use of color and gesture, adding to her interest in performance art, blurring the lines between painting, installation, and live action, creates an immersive experience, while Mitchell’s landscapes evoke strong emotional responses through color and texture. Together, the exhibition underscores the enduring legacy of Mitchell's pioneering work and the innovative, boundary-pushing art of Rooney, inviting viewers to explore the rich, sensory dialogue between the past and present of abstract and expressive painting.