Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002), Point de rencontre – Quintette (polyptych), 1963, oil on canvas, 428 x 564 cm (5 panels). Centre national des arts plastiques, Paris. Inv. FNAC 90069. © Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SOCAN (2020). Photo CNAP
Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002), Point de rencontre – Quintette (polyptych), 1963, oil on canvas, 428 x 564 cm (5 panels). Centre national des arts plastiques, Paris. Inv. FNAC 90069. © Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SOCAN (2020). Photo CNAP
Riopelle
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is dedicating a major exhibition to Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002), a towering figure in Canadian, Quebec and international modern art. Based on original research, the exhibition explores, the artist’s interest in the North and Indigenous cultures, with nearly 160 works and more than 150 artifacts and archival documents. It sheds new light on the artist’s work during the 1950s and 1970s by retracing the travels and influences that fed his fascination with northern regions and North American Indigenous communities.
The exhibition Riopelle: The Call of Northern Landscapes and Indigenous Cultures reveals an artist imbued with a Surrealist’ interest in non-Western art, as inspired by his friend and collector Georges Duthuit and the writings of anthropologists and ethnologists, such as Marius Barbeau, Jean Malaurie and Claude Lévi-Strauss.
It explores the influence of Riopelle’s hunting and fishing trips with Dr. Champlain Charest by seaplane to Quebec and Canada’s North and Far North during the 1970s, as evidenced in the series Jeux de ficelles (1971-1972), Rois de Thulé (1973) and Icebergs (1977). Using an intercultural approach, the exhibition offers a parallel between Riopelle’s works and some of the sources that inspired him, in particular a selection of Inuit masks and works of Pacific Northwest coast First Nations.
Works restored or never previously shown
Laid out chronologically and by theme, the exhibition takes visitors on a tour of nearly 110 works by Riopelle (paintings, sculptures and works on paper) from the MMFA’s collection and some 50 institutional and private collections in Canada, the U.S. and France. Of notable interest is the unveiling of two recently restored major works: the monumental sculpture Fontaine (about 1964-1977), on public display for the first time, and the immense canvas Point de rencontre (1963), the artist’s only commissioned work, previously exhibited at Paris’s Opéra Bastille.
Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002), La Fontaine, about 1964-1977, painted plaster and ropes, 400 x 300 x 300 cm. Private collection. © Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SOCAN (2020). Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Several major works
Also to discover is a 1946 Riopelle watercolour that belonged to André Breton, a little-known series of remarkable works on silver-point paper and several major works, including Blizzard sylvestre (1953), L'étang – Hommage à Grey Owl (1970), D’un long voyage (1973) and Pangnirtung (1977). Artifacts and an extensive selection of documents (photographs, videos and extracts from unpublished correspondence) give added context to the artist’s work.
Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002), L’étang – Hommage à Grey Owl, 1970, oil on canvas, 299.5 x 400 cm. MMFA, gift of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. © Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SOCAN (2020). Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
Inspiring and inspired works
Also showcased are historical works from the Yup’ik, Kwakwaka’wakw and Tlingit communities, among others, which inspired the artist’s vision, as well as works by contemporary Inuit artists, including Luke Akuptangoak, Noah Arpatuq Echalook, Mattiusi Iyaituk and Pudlo Pudlat, as well as Atikamekw artist César Newashish. Still others, such as Kwakwaka’wakw artist Beau Dick, invite visitors to broaden their view of current Indigenous creativity. Similarly, the exhibition incorporates a commissioned work by Tlingit artist Alison Bremner, Ceremonial Wealth (2020), and a recent MMFA acquisition, A Gift from Doreen (2016-2019) by Cree artist Duane Linklater.
Noah Arpatuq Echalook (born in 1946), Woman Playing a String Game, 1987, dark green stone, ivory, hide, 26 x 39 x 24 cm. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, purchased in 1991. © Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec. Photo NGC
About the artist
Jean Paul Riopelle (Montreal, 1923 – Isle-aux-Grues, 2002) is recognized as one of the most important and prolific Canadian artists of the 20th century. He studied at the École du Meuble de Montréal, where he met painter Paul-Émile Borduas and the Automatistes, with whom he signed the Refus global manifesto in 1948. While living in Paris, he met the Surrealists and art collector Georges Duthuit, who sparked his interest in Indigenous art and cultures. His work in the 1970s was influenced by a number of expeditions to Nunavik and Nunavut.
Basil Zarov (1905 (?)-1998), Jean Paul Riopelle outside of the Studio at Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson with “La Défaite” in the Distance, about 1976, black and white photograph. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa. © Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SOCAN (2020). Photo © Library and Archives Canada. Reproduced with the permission of Library and Archives Canada/Basil Zarov fonds/e011205146
Today, Riopelle is renowned worldwide, and his work is found in the public collections of over 60 cities, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Center Pompidou in Paris and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. The MMFA, which owns 370 of the artist’s works, including 27 paintings, previously dedicated two major solo exhibitions to the artist, in 1991 and 2002. The Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation was established in 2019 to preserve, promote and disseminate the artist’s work, and to celebrate Riopelle’s contribution to the history of international art as well as his immense artistic legacy, particularly as we look toward the centenary of his birth in 2023.
Claude Duthuit photograph of Paul Rebeyrolle, Riopelle, Jacques Lamy and Champlain Charest on a fishing trip, about 1975, print 2020, black and white photograph. Archives Yseult Riopelle. © Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SOCAN (2020). Photo Claude Duthuit – Archives Yseult Riopelle
Publication
The ideal companion to the exhibition, this scholarly work includes essays and a wealth of illustrations that allow us to explore the northern and Indigenous influences that permeate the work of Jean Paul Riopelle. Using an interdisciplinary combination of art history and anthropology, this catalogue, edited by Andréanne Roy, Jacques Des Rochers and Yseult Riopelle, is enriched by the contribution of specialists, including several from Indigenous communities.
Catalogue Riopelle: The Call of Northern Landscapes and Indigenous Cultures, Publishing Department of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in association with 5 Continents Editions, Milan
In the media
L’approche humaniste de Riopelle, son attirance pour la nature, les grands espaces du Nord canadien et les autochtones sont traités avec brio dans une nouvelle exposition du Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal
Éric Clément
Un catalogue très précieux.
Ce travail de recherche, digne d’une équipe de détectives, se trouve rassemblé dans un catalogue très précieux pour qui s’intéresse à l'œuvre de Riopelle où à la notion de modernité en art.
Avec cette présentation sur Riopelle, les commissaires ont su démontrer que cette attirance des modernes pour le primitif comprenait aussi les arts autochtones d’Amérique du Nord. Voilà un ajout très important à la lecture critique de l’art moderne.
Sur cette expo flotte un parfum de liberté venu de la nature, des symboles chamaniques des Premiers Peuples, des grandes toiles d’abstraction lyrique de Riopelle et de sa sculpture Fontaine […]. Comme une bouffée d’air frais venue d’ailleurs.
a creatively curated, grand-scale tribute to one of Canada’s greatest artists
Avec l’hiver qui est à nos portes, cette exposition pourrait bien nous réconcilier avec notre nordicité.
L’heure du monde
C’est une des belles expos que j’ai vues dans ma vie
Culture Club
la nouvelle expo scrute, pour la première fois, les rapports du monstre sacré de l’art québécois avec la nordicité et l’autochtonie.
Le Devoir
Extraordinaire ! […] C’est un travail remarquable qui a été fait.
Dessine-moi un dimanche
le trio de commissaires a effectué un travail de recherche remarquable et colossal pour assembler cette exposition riche, fascinante et hyper documentée.
Journal Métro
Un résultat vraiment magnifique. […] Dès que les musées vont rouvrir, précipitez-vous!
ICI Radio-Canada Première, Tout un matin
Une exploration d’une œuvre qu’on pensait connaître
Désautels le dimanche
Un livre absolument magnifique qui accompagne l’exposition. […] C’est colossal, c’est magnifique.
Du côté de chez Catherine
Une expo dans laquelle on resterait toute une vie.
Pénélope
C’est tout un privilège de pouvoir explorer ses œuvres. C’est le cadeau du Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal.
Puisqu’il faut se lever
Un éclairage nouveau sur l’œuvre de Riopelle.
Le 15-18
a new exhibition on Jean Paul Riopelle
All in a Weekend
L’intérêt de Riopelle pour les cultures autochtones mis en lumière par le MBAM.
Espaces autochtones
un ouvrage très bien documenté révélant les influences nordiques et autochtones sur les œuvres de l’immense artiste québécois.
Regards sur l'Arctique
An exhibition […] at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts explores in detail the influence of the Arctic—both the region and its indigenous people—on Riopelle’s artistic vision.
Art and Antiques Magazine
Jean Paul Riopelle, one of the greatest Canadian artists of the 20th century, is the subject of a new exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
NUVO magazine
[l’exposition] ouvre la voie à des interprétations inédites de l'œuvre de l’un des plus grands peintres du Québec et contextualise très clairement certaines périodes charnières de sa carrière.
labibleurbaine.com
c’est un événement majeur que le MBAM propose, à la hauteur de l’artiste légendaire que Riopelle a été et continue d’être 18 ans après sa mort.
Avenues.ca
Credits and curatorial team
An exhibition developed, organized and circulated by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). It was curated by guest curators Andréanne Roy and Yseult Riopelle as well as by Jacques Des Rochers, Curator of Quebec and Canadian Art (before 1945), MMFA.
Acknowledgements
Riopelle: The Call of Northern Landscapes and Indigenous Cultures is an exhibition developed, organized and circulated by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
It is presented by Hydro-Québec and was made possible by the generous contribution of the Audain Foundation. This project is funded by the Government of Canada, and receives support from its partners Hatch, the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation, the Heffel Fine Art Auction House, Tourisme Montréal, RBC, the MMFA’s Angel Circle and official media partner, La Presse. The Museum wishes to underscore the invaluable contributions of its official sponsors, Air Canada and Denalt Paints, and its media partners Bell and Montreal Gazette.
The exhibition has benefited from Heritage Canada’s Canada Travelling Exhibition Indemnification Program. The MMFA is profoundly grateful to the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts de Montréal for their ongoing support.
The Museum’s International Exhibition Program receives funding from the Exhibition Fund of the MMFA Foundation and the Paul G. Desmarais Fund.
The Museum thanks its Volunteer Guides for their abiding dedication, as well as all its members and the many individuals, corporations and foundations – in particular the Fondation de la Chenelière, directed by Michel de la Chenelière, and Arte Musica, presided by Pierre Bourgie – for their generosity.
We further extend our gratitude to all those who, through their generous assistance, encouragement and support, made this exhibition and its scholarly publication possible.
Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002), La Fontaine, about 1964-1977, painted plaster and ropes, 400 x 300 x 300 cm. Private collection. © Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SOCAN (2020). Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002), L’étang – Hommage à Grey Owl, 1970, oil on canvas, 299.5 x 400 cm. MMFA, gift of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. © Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SOCAN (2020). Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
Noah Arpatuq Echalook (born in 1946), Woman Playing a String Game, 1987, dark green stone, ivory, hide, 26 x 39 x 24 cm. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, purchased in 1991. © Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec. Photo NGC
Basil Zarov (1905 (?)-1998), Jean Paul Riopelle outside of the Studio at Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson with “La Défaite” in the Distance, about 1976, black and white photograph. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa. © Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SOCAN (2020). Photo © Library and Archives Canada. Reproduced with the permission of Library and Archives Canada/Basil Zarov fonds/e011205146
Claude Duthuit photograph of Paul Rebeyrolle, Riopelle, Jacques Lamy and Champlain Charest on a fishing trip, about 1975, print 2020, black and white photograph. Archives Yseult Riopelle. © Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SOCAN (2020). Photo Claude Duthuit – Archives Yseult Riopelle
Catalogue Riopelle: The Call of Northern Landscapes and Indigenous Cultures, Publishing Department of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in association with 5 Continents Editions, Milan
