A leading figure of the second generation of Abstract Expressionists in New York City, Joan Mitchell said that although her paintings seemed total abstractions, they were, in fact, "about a feeling that comes to me from the outside, the landscape."

She distinguished herself from other Abstract Expressionists because she had a pre-established design, a single image, to anchor her painting rather than leaving the result to subconscious, totally emotion-based expression.

Mitchell was born and raised in Chicago by parents who were wealthy and socially prominent. Her father was a successful doctor, and her mother a poet, and both supported her apparent early art talent. She attended Frances Parker School, a private high school wh...