Celebrating a Centenary
of Artistic Genius

INSPIRE THE CENTENARY

It was Riopelle’s wish that the foundation bearing his name take on a participative approach in all of its endeavours: he wanted to bring people to work together.

At the onset of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the artist in 2023, the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation seeks to involve the general public and art enthusiasts in Canada and everywhere around the world in the creative process leading to the centenary as well as in the exchange of history, stories and knowledge around the life and oeuvre of Riopelle.

Eager to foster the next generation of artists and arts aficionados, the Foundation invites the public to emulate Riopelle, to surpass their own creative boundaries, their imagination and their sense of innovation.

The centenary of the most internationally-renowned Canadian artist must also reflect his path: from his birthplace in Montréal, where he grew up and blossomed into an artist, to France where he spent over 40 years, to the United States, and to the many villages and cities where he left his mark.

The Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation wants to hear from everyone so that with a great diversity of ideas, projects and extraordinary events, the centenary may become a collective legacy, a masterpiece in hommage to Riopelle.

More than a celebration, the centenary will be a duty of remembrance, an international commemoration. Only then, can we perpetuate Jean Paul Riopelle’s work and legacy into the next century.

Discover the centenary celebrations’ major projects in this section!

 

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

Official video of Riopelle’s Centenary Celebrations

RIOPELLE CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS CALENDAR

Season

Discipline

Project

Partner organisations

Dates

Website

Fall 2022

Cultural
mediation

Dialogues: Encounters with Riopelle’s Oeuvre from Sea to Sea

Government of Canada (Department of
Canadian Heritage)
Culture pour tous

September 2022 –
October 2023

Education

Riopelle Studio Educational Program

Government of Canada (Department of
Canadian Heritage)
Canada Art Institute

September 2022 – Fall
2023

Cultural
mediation

2022 Culture Days (22 cultural activities across Quebec)

Culture pour tous

September 30 –
October 2nd, 2022

Public Art

Monumental mural in tribute to Riopelle in Downtown Montreal

MU
City of Montreal
Tourisme Montréal
McGill University

October 4, 2022

TV, radio and
web

Radio-Canada special programming for the centenary year

CBC/Radio-Canada

October 7, 2022 – Fall
2023

Winter 2023

Visual Arts

Exhibition on the theme of migrations

Musée d’art de Joliette

Irene Campolmi, curator

February 5 – May 7, 2023 (Musée d’art de Joliette)

June 24 – November 5, 2023 (Musée d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul)

Music

Riopelle Symphonic

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal

GSI Musique

Serge Fiori & Blair Thompson, composers

Montréal en Lumière Festival

November 18, 2022 (album launch)

February 16-18, 2023 (concerts)

Other dates to be announced

Cinema

Short films in tribute to Riopelle

International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA)

Institut national de l’image et du son (INIS)

March 14 to 26, 2023

Spring 2023

Public Art

Dedication of a monument to the memory of Riopelle on Isle-aux-Grues

Montmagny Library

City of Montmagny

March 12, 2023

Theatre

The Riopelle Project [working title]

Ex Machina

Théâtre Duceppe

Robert Lepage, director

Théâtre Duceppe:

April 25 to June 3rd, 2023

Théâtre Le Diamant:

Fall 2023 (dates TBA)

Other dates to be announced

Visual Arts

EMPREINTES exhibition

City of Gatineau (Galerie Montcalm)

May 18 to August 20, 2023

Summer 2023

Circus Arts

Riopelle Grandeur Nature

The 7 Fingers

June 2023 (dates TBA)

Visual Arts

Sur les traces de Riopelle exhibition

Montmagny Library

City of Montmagny

Huguette Vachon

June 16 to September 10, 2023

Visual Arts & Folk Art

Riopelle et l’art populaire : Objet trouvé, détourné, volé exhibition

Musée de Charlevoix

Yseult Riopelle, guest curator 

June 8, 2023 – April 2024

Visual Arts

Riopelle: Studio Scents Exhibition

Fondation Maeght (Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France)

Yseult Riopelle, guest curator

June 30 to November 12, 2023

Fall 2023

Visual Arts & poetry

L’empreinte Riopelle exhibition

Culture Trois-Rivières

International Poetry Festival

September – December 2023

Literature & History

Beings, Seasons and Territories

A biographical chronicle

Pierre B. Landry, art historian and author

Fall 2023

Oral History & Research

Tell Me About Riopelle oral history project

Concordia University – Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling (COHDS)

Lea Kabiljo, Ph.D. student

Fall 2023

Research

Riopelle 2023 International Symposium

National & International Universities & Museums (to be announced)

Date TBA

Visual Arts

Jean Paul Riopelle : A retrospective exhibition

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Dr. Sylvie Lacerte, curator

Octobre 2023 – avril 2024

2025

Visual Arts

Inauguration de l’Espace Riopelle

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ)

Government of Quebec

City of Quebec

MNBAQ Foundation

Date TBA

 

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE