| Facts/Data
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Birth
1957 (Quincy, Florida)
Death
Lived/Active
Missouri/New Mexico
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Often Known For
regional landscape, black figure, genre
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Categories of Interest
Black American Artists
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  An award-winning painter of figures depicting black middle and lower class people and landscapes from his southern background and other personal experiences, Dean Mitchell is inspired by grizzled laborers, time-worn elderly faces, and persons like himself who have lived in a segregated environment. His career hit an upswing 2002 when art critic Michael Kimmelman wrote in "The New York Times" that Mitchell was 'a virtual modern-day Vermeer'.
Dean Mitchell grew up in his birth place of Quincy, Florida, a tobacco growing town. His mother, Hazel, was unmarried and worked as a dietician, and he was basically raised by his grandmother who encouraged his art talent and who bought him paints from the time he was a child. Although his mother was hesitant about supporting his talent at first, she has become "his biggest fan". (Targos)
He got his formal art training at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio, and then worked as an illustrator in Kansas City for Hallmark Cards but quit to get back to "real art."
Returning to his home town, he was encouraged and supported by Joan Dickenson, who helped him with gallery representation, which in those days was difficult for Black-Americans. For awhile he was sustained by an Hungarian gallery owner in Florida, Zoltan Bush, and his wife Vicki, and he also spent much time alone, dedicating himself to his painting. He also decided to side-step galleries to see if he could recognition in competitive exhibitions.
In 1990, Dean Mitchell began to win competitions, first being the only recognized black artist in the Hubbard exhibit in Ruidoso, New Mexico. In 1997, he won eleven major national awards, and in 1999, he won the grand prize for Arts for the Parks juried competition with his painting "French Quarter Coachman". That same year he won the gold medal in the Annual International Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society. He also became close friends with the opera singer, Kathleen Battle, and toured Paris with her.
With those achievements, Dean Mitchell got many offers for gallery representation and also for having his work copied in limited editions prints. He works on 20 to 30 paintings at once and uses both sketches and photographs. One of his working mottos came from a gallery owner who told him: "paint from your heart and don't listen to critics." Mitchells responds that "Every painting with spirit finds a home" (Targos)
Source:
Sarah Bayliss, "ARTnews", August 2001
Renee Targos, Art-Talk", January 2005 |
Biography from Morris & Whiteside Galleries:
|  A native of Quincy, Florida, Dean Mitchell received his formal training
at Columbus College of Art and Design and subsequently worked as a
leading designer for Hallmark Cards, Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri.
In 1983, Mitchell left the commercial field to pursue the muse of
realist painting in both rural and urban America. His prodigious
talent was quickly recognized with membership in the American
Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, Miniature Artists of
America, Allied Artists of America, The National Society of Painters in
Casein and Acrylic, Knickerbocker Artists, and the Santa Fe Watercolor
Society, of which he was President in 1993.
In 1992, Mitchell was one of five finalists in the $250,000 Hubbard
Award for Excellence, Ruidoso, New Mexico; and received the $50,000
Grand Prize for the Arts in the Parks competition in 1999. In
1995 the U.S. Postal Service commissioned Mitchell to do a series of
Jazz stamps.
Today, Mitchell’s paintings may be found in the permanent
collections of the St. Louis Art Museum, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,
Hubbard Museum, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Mississippi Art
Museum, Arkansas Art Center and others. |
| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
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