Jean Paul Riopelle is remembered for work the next generation could not ignore.
The record lists Jean Paul Riopelle as Canadian artist (1923–2002).
Jean Paul Riopelle was born at Montreal in 1923. His recorded nationality is Canada. He trained at Académie de la Grande Chaumière and École des beaux-arts de Montréal.
Twentieth-century art was international, heavily theorised and increasingly conceptual, with the market growing alongside it.
He worked as painter, sculptor and printmaker.
His recorded movement is les automatistes and surrealism.
Among his best-known works are L'Hommage à Rosa Luxemburg, Poussière de soleil and La Joute. A painting outlives the argument about it, which is the only durable form of an artistic reputation.
Recognition followed: Companion of the Order of Canada (1969), Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec (1994) and Officer of the National Order of Quebec (1988).
That the work was made in Canada shaped it: artistic traditions, academies and the galleries that decide what is seen have never been evenly distributed.
Jean Paul Riopelle died in 2002, aged 79. The work remains, hanging in collections that outlived both the artist and the market that first priced it.
Achievements
- Companion of the Order of Canada — 1969
- Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec — 1994
- Officer of the National Order of Quebec — 1988
- Notable work: L'Hommage à Rosa Luxemburg
- Notable work: Poussière de soleil
- Notable work: La Joute
- Movement: Les Automatistes and surrealism
