Key Works

This selection of twelve key works reviews the trajectory of Jean Paul Riopelle’s career. Over the span of fifty years, from his first figurative pieces from the 1940s to his ambitious 1992 masterpiece Tribute to Rosa Luxemburg (Hommage à Rosa Luxemburg), Riopelle continued to push the limits of his art. The stories behind these works are as important as the evolving artistic styles they manifest; they highlight the artist’s wide-ranging interests, expanding practice, and his unique development as an artist. By focusing on works that exemplify watershed moments in Riopelle’s career, we gain an appreciation of his dedication to his art and his exacting exploration of techniques, which he honed in several mediums over his lifetime.