Barney Rossett and Joan Mitchell -Part II
Barney posing in front of a portrait of Joan Mitchell in Maya by Goya pose.
Mitchell’s confrontational defenses made it almost impossible for her to maintain an intimate relationship, and she and Rosset probably got along better as friends, after their divorce in 1952. Rosset would unsuccessfully try to win her back, and poignantly describes their relationship as that of “brother and sister.” He remembers Mitchell being “great” in the same way he found Samuel Beckett to be. The combativeness that made it so difficult for Mitchell to sustain a partnership would, however, help protect her in the almost exclusively male world in which she wanted to become a serious contender. She could be as drunken and belligerent – and as sensitive – as any of the males who dominated the world that she now joined with surprising speed. (Remembering Barney and Joan )
Barney Rossett has a blog.
The founder of Grove Press, Rossett is to be celebrated soon this November.
Publisher Who Fought Puritanism, and Won – Charles MaGrath
On Nov. 19 Mr. Rosset will receive a lifetime achievement award from the National Book Foundation in honor of his many contributions to American publishing, especially his groundbreaking legal battles to print uncensored versions of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” and Henry Miller’s “Tropic of Cancer.” He is also the subject of “Obscene,” a documentary by Neil Ortenberg and Daniel O’Connor, which opens on Friday at Cinema Village.
Here is a good article about Barney’s attempt to write his autobiography and his enduring friendship with Samuel Beckett, also happend to be his business partner – You Can’t Paint That!
Read previous post on Joan and Barney their early years here.
Painting by Joan Mitchell. (See more Joan Mitchell paintings here)
More juicy trivia for Joan Mitchell….
Joan and Mike 
two abstract painters
Michael Goldberg paintings here