Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony: La Grande Vallée Suite

With pulsating lines and musical metaphor, Rogers rhapsodically introduces artist Joan Mitchell (1925–1992) and her creation of 21 gigantic paintings known as La Grande Vallée Suite. Evocative narration highlights Mitchell’s efforts to convey the feelings elicited by imagined and remembered landscapes: “She knows what marks she wants/ to make,/ marks that will transform her emotions/ and memories/ into a symphony of colors/ and shapes.” Because “one canvas cannot express the buzz of dragonflies,/ the flutter of petals,” Mitchell keeps generating new paintings until, at last, she shares “her valley with the world.” In absorbing scenes, Innerst emulates the energy of Mitchell’s own work with bold strokes of radiant color, using contrasting unlined black and gray markings to render Mitchell amid other figures, portrayed with various skin tones. The vibrant study that emerges feels like an apt paean. Extensive back matter concludes. Ages 7–10. (Feb.)