Home Journal New Book on Joan Mitchell and Her Dogs Releases in France

New Book on Joan Mitchell and Her Dogs Releases in France

A beige book, titled "Joan Mitchell et ses chiens" by Laura Morris, lays on a wooden table. There is a small inset black-and-white photo of a young woman facing a poodle in the bottom right.

This week, the new book Joan Mitchell et ses chiens releases in France. Written by the Foundation's Director of Archives and Research, Laura Morris, and published by Éditions Norma as part of a series of books on artists and their dogs, Joan Mitchell et ses chiens illuminates Mitchell's profound relationship with her canine companions. The book will be available in France on May 23, and an English version will be available in the U.S. this fall.

An open book on a wooden table shows a photo of the painter Joan Mitchell with a German shepherd on the left and a vibrant abstract painting on the right.

On Saturday, May 24, at 3:30pm, David Zwirner Paris will present a discussion and book signing to celebrate the launch. Moderated by Martin Bethenod (Éditions Norma) and conducted in French, the discussion will include author Laura Morris, philosopher and writer Mark Alizart, and artist Christine Safa. Visit davidzwirner.com/events to RSVP.

An open book on a wooden table shows a page of text and a page or archival photos of the painter Joan Mitchell with her dogs.

More about Joan Mitchell et ses chiens, from the publisher, Éditions Norma:

"Joan Mitchell (1925-1992), a leading figure in abstraction, found inexhaustible inspiration throughout her life in the presence of her dogs. Laura Morris, Director of Archives and Research at the Joan Mitchell Foundation, puts it succinctly: 'One cannot truly understand the artist Joan Mitchell—nor her work—without considering the profound relationship she had with her canine companions.'

"Mitchell's faithful friends accompanied her from New York to Paris, and her property in Vétheuil. They were also the only souls to enter her studio when she was working, and many of the titles of her paintings bear the names of her dogs: Belle-Bête (1973), Pour Patou (1976) and Salut Patou (1977), for her Breton spaniel, La Grande Vallée XVI, Pour Iva (1983), dedicated to her beloved German shepherd...

"After Picasso and his dogs and Yves Saint Laurent and his dogs, Joan Mitchell and her dogs is the third book in the Amigos Forever series, edited by Martin Bethenod and published by Norma. These light-hearted, erudite books look at the lives and works of great artists and art lovers of the 20th and 21st centuries from the perspective of their relationship with the 'dogs in their lives.' The richly illustrated volumes include personal accounts and stories, quotations, archive photographs, and reproductions of works of art."