Where art meets science: two paintings by Joan Mitchell exemplify The Rockefeller University’s pioneering vision

Guided by a singular vision — ‘science for the benefit of humanity’ — the researchers at The Rockefeller University have made groundbreaking strides to understand, cure and prevent disease since the private biomedical research institution was founded by John D. Rockefeller Sr. in New York City in 1901. ‘An astounding 26 of our professors have won Nobel Prizes in Medicine or Chemistry, including seven in the last 25 years. If The Rockefeller University were a country, this number would rank behind only the United States, Great Britain, and Germany,’ explains Richard P. Lifton, President of The Rockefeller University.

The freedom of imagination and quest for discovery that defined the ethos of the university was reflected in the art collection that David Rockefeller introduced to the campus starting in the 1950s. John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s youngest son, who served as chairman of the institution’s board of trustees from 1950 to 1975, David Rockefeller was determined to create an environment that would encourage the resident scientists, researchers, and students to unlock the potential of their imaginations. He believed that being surrounded by awe-inspiring nature and creativity that demonstrated originality of thought would foster discoveries of the same timbre.

Enlisting the help of the founding director of The Museum of Modern Art, Alfred H. Barr Jr., and the legendary curator Dorothy Miller, Rockefeller amassed an unparalleled collection featuring the most visionary and pioneering artists of the 1950s.

This fall, Christie’s is honoured to offer two works by Joan Mitchell from The Rockefeller University’s collection in the 20th Century Evening Sale on 19 November 2024. The sale of City Landscape and Untitled will help fund the institution’s groundbreaking research and scientific mission.

Both painted in 1955, when Mitchell was alternating between Paris and New York, the works embody the excitement and freedom of her life and work at this pivotal point in her early career. City Landscape reveals Mitchell as a perceptive and resourceful colourist with a striking composition teeming with an astonishing variety of gestures and marks. Untitled is an intense, visceral painting that exemplifies the tenacity and fearlessness of the young artist, in a canvas where passages of bright white provide the backdrop for powerful, sensational colours.

Rockefeller was quick to recognise the pioneering vision of the Abstract Expressionist painters who predominated in his collection, later reflecting: ‘At the end of the Second World War, the United States and specifically New York for the first time blazed a trail with a new school of painting, which the rest of the world was following.’ The university has likewise produced trailblazing names in science, including the 2020 Nobel Prize recipient Charles M. Rice, awarded for his advancements in understanding and treating hepatitis C, and the 2024 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research recipient, Svetlana Mojsov, who has been honoured around the world for her transformative work in insulin regulation, leading to revolutionary new drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity, amongst them Ozempic and Wegovy.

As foremost examples of Mitchell’s art, the two paintings being offered at Christie’s are a testament to the visionary aims that have long defined this remarkable institution. ‘Small by design’, the University ‘promotes interdisciplinary interactions and collaborations that fuel innovation and allow us to be entrepreneurial and nimble,’ says Lifton. Today, the university’s busy labs are actively working to solve metastatic cancers and neurodegenerative diseases including Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well as expanding our understanding of brain function, making advancements in stem cell research and much more.

Lifton spoke with Christie’s about the institution’s mission, time-honoured legacy and future aspirations enabled by this historic sale.

The Rockefeller University has a century-long legacy of groundbreaking work and discoveries. Can you tell us about the rich history of the University?

Richard P. Lifton: ‘The Rockefeller University was the first institution dedicated to biomedical research in the United States. It was founded in 1901 by John D. Rockefeller Sr. We have a singular purpose: to understand life’s fundamental processes and to translate this knowledge into ways to prevent, diagnose and treat disease. The clarity of our mission and the focus of our scientists unites our entire community.

‘The impact of discoveries by Rockefeller scientists has been well recognised. Amongst only 270 professors in our history, an astounding 26 have won Nobel Prizes in Medicine or Chemistry, including six in the last 25 years. If The Rockefeller University were a country, this number would rank behind only the United States, Great Britain, and Germany. University scientists have also won 26 Lasker Awards, considered the American Nobel, including three in the last eight years, and 20 Rockefeller faculty have garnered the National Medal of Science, the highest science award in the United States.’

The University’s mission is to conduct science for the benefit of humanity. How does the work carried out at The Rockefeller University improve the lives of everyday people?

RL: ‘Basic scientific discoveries by Rockefeller faculty are myriad and include one of the most crucial discoveries in the history of biomedicine — that DNA is the chemical of heredity. This understanding provided a key foundation from which the last 80 years of global biomedical investigation has flowed.

‘When COVID exploded in New York City, more than a third of the university’s laboratories quickly pivoted their research to focus on understanding the biology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, how the immune system responds to it, how the virus evolves to evade the immune response and the factors that cause severe disease. These insights were pivotal in anticipating the emergence of new variants of the virus across the pandemic. We continue to work on developing therapies that will prevent future pandemics.

‘Countless clinical applications have emerged from Rockefeller science. These include the discovery of the ABO blood groups, which directly led to testing of blood type to permit safe blood transfusions, a method that remains in universal use; the discovery of pathogens that cause many infectious diseases, and the development of effective vaccines and therapeutics that prevent or eradicate them, ranging from the first vaccine to prevent meningitis to the cure for hepatitis C; and the discovery of the hormones leptin and GLP-1 that have transformed our understanding of obesity and its treatment.’

What role do you think art and creativity plays in the progress of humanity as a whole?

RL: ‘Art is a source of inspiration that sparks the imagination and elevates the spirit. The university’s 16-acre campus is a verdant and art-filled oasis of tranquillity amidst the intensity of New York City. Early in David Rockefeller’s tenure as Chairman of the Board of The Rockefeller University in the 1950s, the Rockefeller graduate school for training young scientists was developed to educate PhD students. David and the then newly appointed president Detlev Bronk were committed to creating an environment at Rockefeller that would unleash the students’ imaginations, and prompt them to think creatively about their research in order to make transformational discoveries.

‘The architecture, landscape and interior furnishings of the spaces that the scientists would inhabit on the new campus were designed with this purpose in mind by a team comprising Rockefeller, Wallace Harrison, Dan Kiley and Florence Knoll. Art was a vital ingredient in these plans. Working with Alfred Barr and Dorothy Miller, this team helped the university assemble an art collection.

‘The exciting art emerging from young American artists at the time led to technical and aesthetic innovations and a bold new form of artistic expression. Like the artists represented in the collection, Rockefeller’s scientists in the 20th and 21st centuries have introduced paradigm-shifting concepts, which may not always be met with immediate acceptance but will ultimately be recognised as transformative.’

What do you hope to achieve with the sale of these important paintings by Joan Mitchell?

RL: ‘Thanks to David’s vision as a philanthropist and great collector, the university has a unique collection of art. The two Mitchell paintings in our collection can have an enormous impact in supporting Rockefeller’s mission of science for the benefit of humanity.

‘It’s heartening to know that proceeds from the sale of the art that David Rockefeller so wisely helped the university acquire nearly 70 years ago will now be directed to the scientific mission of this institution to which he was so deeply dedicated.’