A museum-workshop in memory of Riopelle

A museum-workshop dedicated to Jean Paul Riopelle will open on L’Isle-aux-Grues, where he died on March 12, 2002. This place, which will showcase exclusive works by the famous painter, should open its doors in two years here.

“It’s a gift for Jean Paul. To give him his place and to ensure his survival on this island that he loved so much, ”said his spouse, Huguette Vachon, during a press conference at the Château Frontenac.

It was at L’Isle-aux-Grues that the painter produced several paintings during the 1990s, including the following Tribute to Rosa Luxembourg, which is considered one of his greatest works. “His trace will be there forever,” added the one who shared her last 15 years of life.

The Riopelle museum-workshop will present, in summer, an evolving exhibition on the life and works of the painter. There will also be an augmented reality presentation on Riopelle’s pictorial universe, signed by creator Robert Lepage, to enhance the experience.

During the winter, the site will become an interpretation center for the ecosystems of the Isle-aux-Grues archipelago and a place where shows will be presented.

$4.3 million

Architect Pierre Thibault had no choice but to accept the offer to work on this project, when Huguette Vachon contacted him. The museum-workshop will be built on land acquired last September by the Riopelle-Vachon Foundation.

“We are going, with this museum-workshop, to go where Riopelle was inspired and where he painted. That’s what we’re going to taste. It will have a view of the St. Lawrence. It will be modest in its scale, but grandiose in its overall experience”, he indicated, specifying that he had been inhabited, since his adolescence, by the work of Riopelle.

In particular, there will be works from the collection of Riopelle’s spouse.

A request for funding from the Ministry of Culture and Communications should make it possible to raise the necessary $4.3 million.

“It shouldn’t be too difficult, given the love people have for Jean Paul Riopelle,” said André Michel, of the Riopelle-Vachon Foundation and project manager.