Fred Mitchell (artist)

Madison Fred Mitchell (November 24, 1923 – May 21, 2013) belonged to the New York School Abstract Expressionist artists whose influence and artistic innovation by the 1950s had been recognized around the world. New York School Abstract Expressionism, represented by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline and others became a leading art movement of the post-World War II era.

For other people named Fred Mitchell, see Fred Mitchell (disambiguation).

Fred Mitchell
Born
Madison Fred Mitchell

(1923-11-24)November 24, 1923
Meridian, Mississippi
DiedMay 21, 2013(2013-05-21) (aged 89)
New York City
NationalityAmerican
Known forPainting
MovementAbstract expressionism

Biography

Fred Mitchell was born November 24, 1923, in Meridian, Mississippi.[1] Following graduation from Meridian High School, Mitchell attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), until his studies were interrupted by military duty. After serving in the Army, Mitchell enrolled in the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he eventually received his M.F.A.[2]

He died New York City on May 21, 2013.

Studied painting

Participation in the Downtown Art Scene

In 1947 Mitchell was the winner of Pepsi Cola cash award of $1,500; He sailed to Rome. During his visit to Rome he met painters John Heliker, Afro (Basadella), and Philip Guston, who had major influence on his work. Returning to the US, in 1951 Mitchell moved to New York City and became one of the first painters to open a painting studio in the downtown seaport area along the East River known as Coenties Slip (Manhattan). He soon joined the "Downtown Group"[3] which represented a group of artists who found studios in lower Manhattan. In 1952 Mitchell, Angelo Ippolito, Lois Dodd, Charles Cajori and William King organized the Tanager Gallery,[4] which belonged to the Tenth Street galleries. His friend Philip Pavia introduced Mitchell to 'The Club'.[5]

Teaching positions

Mitchell was also a highly regarded teacher:

Selected solo exhibitions

Selected group exhibitions
  • 1945: "Soldier Art" National Army Arts Contest, National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.
  • 1946–1949: Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI
  • 1953, 1954: "New York Painting and Sculpture Annual," Stable Gallery, New York City
  • 1954–1955: "Young American Painters," circ., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City
  • 1955: "Vanguard Artists," Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN
  • 1956, 1960: "The Founding Five," Tanager Gallery, New York City
  • 1958: "Young American Painters," Rome-New York Foundation, Rome, Italy
  • 1961: Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, PA
  • 1962: "Museum of Modern Art in Embassies," Manila, Philippines
  • 1967: "Art in American Embassies Abroad," U.S. State Department
  • 1968: "Will Insley, Fred Mitchell and Steve Poleskie," A D White Museum, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
  • 1974: "Nine Artists, Coenties Slip," Whitney Museum of American Art, Downtown, NY
  • 1975: "Paintings and Watercolors," Hunterdon Art Center, Clinton, NJ
  • 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1983: Buecker & Harpsichords Gallery, NY
  • 1980–1982: "New York Painting," Landmark Gallery, New York City
  • 1985: "The Gathering of the Avant-Garde: The Lower East Side, 1948–1970," Kenkaleba House Gallery, New York City
  • 1990: ULAE Gallery," Waterworks", New York, NY
  • 1998: Gallery X, "Revelations", Harlem, NY
  • 1999: Katherina Rich Perlow Gallery, "The Abstract Tradition: Fred Mitchell, John Ferren, Stephen Pace, John Grillo", New York, NY
  • 2004: The Rockford Art Museum, "Reuniting An Era: Abstract Expressionists of The 1950s", Rockford, IL
  • 2007: Hackett Freedman Gallery, "A Culture in the Making: New York and San Francisco in the 1950s", San Francisco, CA
  • 2008: Robert Miller Gallery, "Beyond The Canon: Small Works in American Abstraction 1945–1965", New York, NY

Notes
  1. Herskovic, Marika, New York school : abstract expressionists : artists choice by artists: a complete documentation of the New York painting and sculpture annuals, 1951-1957, New Jersey: New York School Press, 2000, p.253
  2. "Madison Fred Mitchell Obituary". The Meridian Star. June 15, 2013. Archived from the original on July 3, 2013. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  3. Downtown Group
  4. Tanager Gallery:Paintings and sculpture
  5. Artists' Club
  6. Instructors and Lecturers-Past and Present at the Art Students League of New York Archived 2010-01-20 at the Wayback Machine

References

See also
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