Jean-Paul Riopelle

Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Ontario, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Riopelle, September - November 1980, cat. no. 39, p. 35

Yseult Riopelle, Ed., Le Catalogue Raisonné de Jean-Paul Riopelle, Montreal 2016, illustrated in color (online)

This work is in very good condition overall. This work is a triptych, and all 3 canvases are stretched separately and joined together at the stretchers on the reverse. The canvases are each unlined. Under very close inspection, there are scattered areas of minor pigment separation. There are a few areas of craquelure with associated pigment lifting and some minor associated losses. Upon close inspection, there is light surface dust settled within the impasto of the pigment. Under Ultraviolet light inspection there is no evidence of restoration. Framed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Jean-Paul Riopelle, one of the most revered and important Canadian Artists of the twentieth century is widely regarded as a pioneer of the Lyrical Abstraction movement.  An arresting command of color, Riopelle’s luminous, dense mosaic-like movements across a surface resemble peaks and valleys, each revealing a deeper understanding of Riopelle’s ability to command spatulas, knives and paint poured directly onto the surface. As Riopelle said “I always hope to complete it in a few strokes, starting with the first colors I daub down anywhere and anyhow.  But it never works so I add more, without realizing it.” The selection of works presented in the following pages fully capture Riopelle’s range and painterly brilliance.  Jean-Louis Maeght confessed in prefacing Riopelle’s work, "The painter appeared to register the smallest fluttering. Nature, this nature has always been the main foundation stone of Jean-Paul Riopelle’s art, the central theme that elucidates his investigations in both the abstract and the figurative realms."