In the 1940s, Riopelle joined Les Automatistes, a group of young Quebec artists led by Paul-Émile Borduas, who aimed to break free from the restrictive influence of the Church and state on Quebec society. The Automatistes movement was not only artistic, but deeply political and spiritual, born out of a struggle for freedom of thought and expression in a repressive social order.
The word Automatistes comes from automatism, an artistic and psychological concept meaning to create spontaneously, without conscious control, letting the subconscious express itself directly through writing, drawing, painting, dance, etc. Riopelle and his artistic contemporaries, the Automatistes, adopted this principle, inspired by Surrealism in Europe, expressing pure thought and emotion without censorship or planning.
In 1948, the group published the manifesto Refus global, which was primarily written by Paul-Émile Borduas. Bourdas was a painter and art teacher at the École du meuble in Montréal.
He was both a mentor and intellectual leader to many of the younger artists who became known as Les Automatistes; Paul-Émile Borduas (painter), Jean Paul Riopelle (painter), Françoise Sullivan (dancer, choreographer, painter), Marcel Barbeau (painter, sculptor), Louise Renaud (painter), Jean-Paul Mousseau (painter, sculptor), Claude Gauvreau (writer, poet), Pierre Gauvreau (painter, filmmaker), Marcelle Ferron (painter, stained glass artist), Thérèse Renaud (writer, poet), Fernand Leduc (painter), Denyse Leduc (painter), Maurice Perron (painter), Roland Giguère (poet, writer), Jean-Louis Brault (painter, filmmaker), Rita Letendre (painter). Each of them were asked to produce a text that would help create the totality of the manifesto that in the end was a 16 page booklet.
In 1971, Marcelle Ferron, Thérèse Leduc, Françoise Riopelle, and Madeleine Arbour, all four signatories of Refus global, discuss the meaning of the manifesto and its impact on their lives, on the intellectual world, on the artistic movement, and on painting in Quebec; Les femmes du Refus global en 1971
The manifesto directly challenged the power of the Catholic Church and the Duplessis government, which dominated Quebec’s cultural and intellectual life. “The manifesto was like a bomb in the era’s religious and political ideology. It created a huge upheaval because it represented an attack towards religions. So because it was a Catholic country, a very Catholic country, (It was even once considered by the Church to be the principal place of Catholicism) it certainly was like a huge bomb.” (Fernanad Leduc)
The backlash was immediate: Borduas lost his teaching position, the group faced public denunciation, and a climate of censorship and moral conservatism made it difficult for them to exhibit or work freely. Many members, including Riopelle, left Quebec to continue their artistic development abroad, Riopelle to Paris, others to New York or Europe, where they found greater artistic freedom and international recognition.
Riopelle studied under Paul-Émile Borduas who encouraged artists to think beyond technique and to trust the freedom of instinct.
For Riopelle, those early years were about discovering the kind of artist he wanted to be. Even while aligned with the Automatistes, he was already making his own path, one that would move him beyond purely spontaneous abstraction and into a lifelong exploration of materials, process, and form. His imagination seemed drawn to the physical act of painting itself: the way paint could be moved, scraped, and built up until the canvas became almost sculptural.
When Riopelle moved to Paris in 1947, he entered a world where postwar art was being reinvented daily. The energy of the city, still recovering from conflict, brought artists together in pursuit of something new. For Riopelle, it was a period of transformation. He abandoned the brush for the palette knife, applying thick layers of oil paint that shimmered and cracked like stone under sunlight. These paintings, bursting with motion and colour, were unlike anything being created in Canada at the time.
In Paris, he was exposed to the European avant-garde and abstract painters, including the lyrical abstraction and tachisme movements. He attended workshops with André Lhote, a Cubist painter and teacher, and interacted with members of the Parisian Surrealist scene. Riopelle formed friendships and artistic exchanges with other Canadian artists in Paris, such as Marcelle Ferron, and with European painters. Despite these influences, he largely developed his technique independently, experimenting with palette knife textures, layering, and impasto, which became his signature style.
L’Hommage à Rosa Luxemburg, 1992, acrylic and spray paint on canvas; A sequence of 30 individual paintings forming a triptych more than 40 metres in length, by Jean Paul Riopelle
Riopelle often said that paint had its own personality that you couldn’t force to behave, only work with it. Each canvas became a kind of conversation between control and chance. His impasto surfaces, sometimes inches thick, seemed to hold energy beneath them like ice that might break or melt at any moment. Critics began calling him an “alchemist of matter,” a title he never claimed but perhaps quietly accepted. In his hands, colour became substance, texture became emotion, and the physical act of painting became a performance of intuition.
Riopelle’s creative curiosity went far beyond the canvas. He worked with bronze, clay, plaster, and even found objects, testing how different materials could express movement. His studio was less a tidy workspace than a living ecosystem: brushes scattered, tools dulled by use, splashes of pigment on every wall. To him, mess was not chaos, it was evidence of life. He approached art the way others approach nature: by observing, responding, and allowing transformation to occur.
What makes Riopelle’s art so enduring is not just its beauty or boldness, but its honesty. He painted the way the world feels, layered, unpredictable, sometimes rough, but full of vitality. In a time when art often chases polish, Riopelle reminds us that truth lies in the imperfect, the spontaneous, and the human.
Today, Riopelle’s influence continues through generations of Canadian artists who see in his work a model of fearless exploration. His career built a bridge between Canada and the international art scene, showing that Canadian modernism could stand on equal footing with the great movements of Europe.
La Joute (1969–70) bronze fountain sculpture located at Place Jean‑Paul Riopelle, Montréal, by Jean Paul Riopelle,
The ensemble includes 30 bronze figures surrounding a central “Tower of Life,” featuring animals such as an owl, a fish, and a bear, inspired by Riopelle’s childhood imagination. The full installation spans several metres and incorporates water, mist, and seasonal fire effects, creating a dynamic, immersive experience.
The Children Of Refus Global. is a documentary that explores the effects on the children of Les Automatistes.
Consignment at Rookleys
At Rookleys Canadian Art, we are actively seeking works by Jean-Paul Riopelle for consignment, offering consignment rates far lower below what auction houses charge. If you have a painting by Jean-Paul Riopelle to consign, please contact us at info@rookleys.com to discuss these opportunities further.