As museums and galleries around the world celebrate the 50th anniversary of Picasso’s death, Canadian institutions are celebrating a banner year for a legend of modern art here: Jean Paul Riopelle.
The famous Canadian abstract expressionist died in 2002, but he is more present than ever this year in anticipation of the centenary of his birth on October 7, 2023. The Riopelle Foundation, based in Montreal, the artist’s hometown, and chaired by a developer, philanthropist and collector Michael Audain, with Manon Gauthier as general manager, has been at work since 2018 to prepare for the centenary (the foundation was officially launched the following year).
Several events are already underway in Canada and more are on the horizon. There will also be a major announcement in Paris, a city the artist has called home for some 40 years, on April 12.
Jean-Paul Riopelle, sun dust1953-54 National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec, Quebec, Canada. © Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SOCAN (2022)
When Riopelle’s painting North wind (1952-53) achieved a record C$7.4 million (5.4 million dollars) at auction in 2017, the catalog accompanying the sale said as much. “In Europe and the United States, he was considered as much a French artist, and more particularly a Parisian, as a Canadian,” we read.
“It’s a story that resonates on both sides of the ocean,” says Gauthier, who never knew the artist. “I met him through his art, it was like an electric shock.”
Last year, the foundation announced a donation worth 120 million Canadian dollars ($88.8 million) to the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) in Quebec City, most of it in works by Riopelle (up to 70 works, according to Gauthier) which will be presented at the Espace Riopelle pavilion to come.
Rendering of the Espace Riopelle pavilion at the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec © Fabg architects
The MNBAQ was the first museum to acquire a Riopelle, in 1956. Decades later, the artist imagined such a space to exhibit his works and those of other artists. Preparatory work for the pavilion is underway, a target opening date of late 2025 or early 2026. (Another project is underway for build a small Riopelle museum on the island where he spent most of the last years of his life.)
A the imposing mural by Marc Séguin en homage à Riopelle is already playing in Montreal and the Orchester symphonique de Montréal is also paying tribute to him, with other concerts to follow later in the year. Late last month, the foundation, with the help of the Department of Canadian Heritage and Culture, announced the winners of a coast-to-coast cultural mediation program in honor of the artist, called “Riopelle Dialogues”. Also to be released, a theatrical performance by the famous Quebec playwright Robert Lepage with the working title The Riopelle Project (April 25-June 9.
Joan Mitchell and Jean Paul Riopelle in Chicago around 1957-59 Photo taken from the archives of the Catalog raisonné of Jean Paul Riopelledirected by Yseult Riopelle.
The greatest celebration of Riopelle’s work will open soon after what would have been his 100th birthday: a major retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada (October 27, 2023-April 7, 2024) featuring around 100 of his works as well as pieces by his contemporaries including Joan Mitchell (his longtime companion), Alberto Giacometti and Jackson Pollock (to whom he has often been compared), as well as others by living artists.
“We need to celebrate the past and engage in conversation with the artists of today,” says Gauthier. “Our biggest dream is for people to share Riopelle.
- Jean Paul RiopelleOctober 27, 2023-April 7, 2024, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
