Posts by Lisa Jackson

Jean Paul Riopelle was born in Montréal in 1923, at a time when Canadian artists were seeking a voice that reflected their own era and environment. He emerged as one of the most dynamic figures of postwar Canadian art, his early work shaped by a pursuit of artistic, intellectual, and spiritual freedom. He was the eldest of three children; his father worked in construction and his mother managed the household. Riopelle developed a close bond with his father, who often took him on fishing trips and excursions into the countryside, which nurtured his lifelong appreciation for the textures, colours, and patterns of the natural world. He studied at the École du Meuble and later at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, where he received formal training while also experimenting with modernist techniques. These formative experiences laid the foundation for the bold, textured, and improvisational style that would define his later work.

Doris McCarthy, (1910 - 2010), was, in every sense, Canada’s wilderness sweetheart, spirited, unpretentious, and forever enchanted by her 100 year, lifelong, love affair with the rugged beauty of her homeland.