PROVENANCE
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York
Galerie Gilles Corbeil, Montreal
Private Collection, Quebec

LITERATURE
Pierre Théberge, Gilles Vigneault et al., Jean-Paul Riopelle, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1991, page 35

Following his all-over mosaic paintings of the 1950s, space began to enter into Jean-Paul Riopelle’s pictorial plane around 1960. A statement by Herta Wescher concerning his paintings of 1959 to 1960 noted this change: “The dense mosaics characteristic of his paintings of ten years ago have been broken up, allowing space to enter from all sides. Now, order and chaos intermingle; diagonals, curves and sharp hooks attack the verticals, voids are trapped at the heart of incredibly crowded centres.” The brilliance of white brings open passages into this striking work, while squares and horizontal patches of inky black add magisterial weight. Riopelle has wielded the spatula vigorously, including some fine passages of mosaic knifework, which flash with scintillating reds, reminders of his stunning mosaic works of the 1950s. Titles at this time were connotative rather than a direct reference to content, and this one is evocative, translating as Full of Birds.

Riopelle’s work was shown by important galleries during his career, and this painting was once handled by the prominent Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York.

This work will be included in the forthcoming Volume IV of Yseult Riopelle's catalogue raisonné on the artist's work, catalogue #1968.022H.1968.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars