Joan Mitchell

This work presents abstract fields of light and dark colors to evoke the atmosphere of the boat-docking site alluded to in the title. (Blue and green areas give a sense of the meeting of water and land, while black masses and lines variously connote shadows or the edges of docks or boats.)

Mitchell painted Mooring soon after she settled in Vétheuil, France, a town on the river Seine where impressionist Claude Monet often worked. Known as one of Mitchell’s “Territory” paintings because of its exploration of a particular place, this work is distinguished by its interplay of textures, ranging from dense impasto to thinly painted areas.