Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2002). Untitled, 1947. Ink and watercolor on paper. 10-7/8 x 14-1/2 inches (27.6 x 36.8 cm). Si...

Description

Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2002)
Untitled, 1947
Ink and watercolor on paper
10-7/8 x 14-1/2 inches (27.6 x 36.8 cm)
Signed lower right: Riopelle

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Edmonton, Canada;
Private collection.

LITERATURE:
Y. Riopelle, Jean Paul Riopelle Catalogue Raisonné, Volume 1 (1939-1953), Montreal, 1999, p. 183, no. 1947041P.V1947.

Created in 1947, Untitled captures Jean-Paul Riopelle at a pivotal moment of artistic transformation. That year marked a period of transition when he moved from Montreal to postwar Paris, immersing himself in the city's thriving avant-garde scene, where Surrealism, abstraction, and Automatism were giving rise to new visual languages. This intimate work on paper reflects that fertile experimentation, revealing his early embrace of spontaneity and the expressive power of gesture. Across the surface, dense networks of black ink slash and weave over a luminous field of color. Watercolor washes of rose, ochre, and violet pulse beneath the dark linear structure, suggesting both chaos and order, destruction and renewal. Riopelle's brushwork feels instinctive yet deliberate, embodying the tension between chance and control that would come to define his mature style.


More information about Jean-Paul Riopelle. See also: Riopelle, Jean-Paul Artist.



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