Gestural strokes and decisive mark-making swirl around the central anchoring and thickly applied colors of rust and deep blue. Painted by the Abstract Expressionist artist Joan Mitchell, the work dates to Mitchell’s early career in New York, after she attended Smith College (1942–44) and the Art Institute of Chicago (1944–47) and before she moved her studio to France in 1959.
Mitchell compared painting to poetry. Like Alma Thomas, she often began with an image or memory rooted in the natural world around her, describing her paintings as “remembered landscapes which involve my feelings.” Here, the title may refer to George Orwell’s 1936 novel of the same name. Aspidistra are hardy plants that were popular among the middle class in Victorian London because they grew well indoors, despite minimal sunlight and the poor air quality created by oil and gas lamps.
The collection of the Botanic Garden of Smith College includes several examples of aspidistra.