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It is said that you must suffer for your art. Dean Mitchell understands the sentiment, but is not
ruled by it. But the images of the life he sees around him are filled with emotion, whether it is a
painting of a plain, light- splashed, whiteboard-paneled Southern church or a woman bowing
in prayer. It is etched in the portraits of his grandmother, who raised him from the age of
eleven months in a small town near Tallahassee, Florida.
As a child, Mitchell knew he wanted to be an artist, a seemingly impossible choice for a boy in
his circumstances, but he bought a set of oils when he was twelve and won two awards in the
very first art competition he entered. He started painting in watercolor when he was attending
the Columbus School of Art and Design in Ohio and his first job was teaching art at a Boy’s
Club for ten dollars an hour. Things changed when he started entering his paintings in
competitions regularly. His exceptional ability in showing a special side of the seemingly
ordinary gained immediate attention and reward. “I have inherited a passion for the simple
things of life,” says the artist. “In this we retain the essence of time and the true meaning of
life.”
Now recognized as one of the finest painters in America, Mitchell has been awarded almost
every major painting award in the country and some abroad, including first prize at London,
England’s T.H. Saunders International Artist and Watercolour Show, top honors from the
American National Watercolor Society, the Arts for the Parks Medal for Overall Excellence and
the Hubbard Art Award for Excellence. In 2002, New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman
called Dean Mitchell a “virtual modern-day Vermeer.” He has also been named a “Best Bet”
for collectors in ARTnews by R. Crosby Kemper Jr., founder of the Kemper Museum of
Contemporary Art.
His paintings can be found in such museum collections as the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,
St. Louis Museum, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Margaret Harwell Art Museum,
Hubbard Museum, Mississippi Museum of Art and the Arkansas Art Center.
ruled by it. But the images of the life he sees around him are filled with emotion, whether it is a
painting of a plain, light- splashed, whiteboard-paneled Southern church or a woman bowing
in prayer. It is etched in the portraits of his grandmother, who raised him from the age of
eleven months in a small town near Tallahassee, Florida.
As a child, Mitchell knew he wanted to be an artist, a seemingly impossible choice for a boy in
his circumstances, but he bought a set of oils when he was twelve and won two awards in the
very first art competition he entered. He started painting in watercolor when he was attending
the Columbus School of Art and Design in Ohio and his first job was teaching art at a Boy’s
Club for ten dollars an hour. Things changed when he started entering his paintings in
competitions regularly. His exceptional ability in showing a special side of the seemingly
ordinary gained immediate attention and reward. “I have inherited a passion for the simple
things of life,” says the artist. “In this we retain the essence of time and the true meaning of
life.”
Now recognized as one of the finest painters in America, Mitchell has been awarded almost
every major painting award in the country and some abroad, including first prize at London,
England’s T.H. Saunders International Artist and Watercolour Show, top honors from the
American National Watercolor Society, the Arts for the Parks Medal for Overall Excellence and
the Hubbard Art Award for Excellence. In 2002, New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman
called Dean Mitchell a “virtual modern-day Vermeer.” He has also been named a “Best Bet”
for collectors in ARTnews by R. Crosby Kemper Jr., founder of the Kemper Museum of
Contemporary Art.
His paintings can be found in such museum collections as the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,
St. Louis Museum, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Margaret Harwell Art Museum,
Hubbard Museum, Mississippi Museum of Art and the Arkansas Art Center.
Dean Mitchell
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