Jean-Paul Riopelle

Do you have a piece by Jean-Paul Riopelle in your possession and would like to know its value? Our Experts will carry out a free appraisal of your piece, provide you with an estimate of the market price, and then help you to sell at the best possible price.

Quote, estimation and price of the artist Jean-Paul Riopelle

Price of a painting: 12,000 – 4,200,000 €.

Estimate of a drawing: 4 600 – 64,000 €.

Estimation of a sculpture: 6,300 – 27,000 €.

Estimation of a print: 65 – 4,000 €.

If you would like to have a work by Jean-Paul Riopelle appraised, our experts will take care of everything.

Introduction to painting and moving

Jean-Paul Riopelle is a Quebec painter, sculptor and engraver born October 7, 1923 in Montreal and died March 12, 2002 in Saint-Antoine-de-l’Isle-aux-Grues.

He became interested in art at a very young age, but studied at the École polytechnique de Montréal, as well as architecture.

It was in the 1940s that Jean-Paul Riopelle, against the advice of his parents, enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts and became a pupil of the painter Paul-Emile Borduas at the École du Meuble. But it was in 1946 that he joined the Automatistes movement, a group with which he had his first exhibition in Montreal. He also signed the manifesto Refus Global, written by Borduas, which rejected immobility and questioned the traditional values of Quebec society.

In 1947, he and his wife, the dancer and choreographer Françoise Lespérance, moved to Paris, and Jean-Paul Riopelle met the Surrealist movement. It is in the 1950s that he develops several painting techniques with spatulas, knives and brushes. He often exhibited his works at the Pierre Matisse gallery in New York.

Sculptures and other supports

It was in 1958, in East Hampton, that Jean-Paul Riopelle created his first sculptures, only to return to exhibit them in Paris. He befriends Sam Szafran who will initiate him to different techniques such as pastel, collage, ceramics, etc. The Quebecer has more and more success and exhibits in Canada, the United States and France.

His largest painting, Meeting Point, an order from Toronto Airport, was given to France for the anniversary of the French Revolution. The work is exhibited at the Opéra Bastille.

Between 1969 and 1980, Riopelle divided his life between his studio in Canada and his studio in France and produced many works such as the sculpture of a fountain for the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, or his works with wild geese.

He returned to Quebec in 1990 where he created in profusion. A major retrospective was dedicated to him in 1991 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

In May 2017, Montreal-based Heffel sold Jean Riopelle’s oil painting Vent du Nord for $7.4 million. Some twenty collectors competed for the painter’s work, produced between 1952 and 1953. The canvas is a great piece, first of all by its size (1.3 m by 2 m), but also by the richness of the details of the painting.

Recognising Riopelle’s signature

Like many artists, Jean-Paul Riopelle did not sign all of his works. However, you will find below an example of the signatures to give you an idea. Variations of these signatures do exist, do not hesitate to contact one of our experts to formally authenticate a signature.

Appraising and selling a piece by Jean-Paul Riopelle

If you own a piece by Jean-Paul Riopelle or any other object, ask for a free estimate via our online form.

You will then be contacted by a member of our team of experts and auctioneers to give you an independent view of the market price of your piece. In the context of a possible sale, our specialists will also advise you on the different options available to sell your work at the best price.