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LOT 042

AUTO CAS OC QMG RCA SCA
1923 - 2002
Canadian

Sans titre
mixed media on paper
signed and dated 1964
18 1/4 x 27 in, 46.4 x 68.6 cm

Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD

Sold for: $43,250

Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave

PROVENANCE
Galerie Jean Fournier, Paris
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collection, Montreal, 1971

LITERATURE
Jeffrey Spalding et al., Riopelle, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2002, essay by François-Marc Gagnon, page 30
Yseult Riopelle, Jean Paul Riopelle Catalogue Raisonné, Volume 3, 1960 – 1965, 2009, reproduced page 300, catalogue #1964.117P.1964
Les Automatistes en trois temps, Galerie Michel Guimont, 2018, reproduced page 27 and listed page 35

EXHIBITED
Galerie Michel Guimont, Quebec City, Les Automatistes en trois temps, September 23 – October 23, 2018


In the late 1940s, Jean Paul Riopelle’s paper works were being influenced by Surrealism and the work of the Automatists. However, by the 1960s, when he was producing works on paper using ink, watercolour, gouache and lithograph, his concepts had changed. Riopelle had moved beyond the Automatists, whose theories he felt “limited chance,” while to him “total chance alone can be fertile.” Thus, as François-Marc Gagnon wrote, “Riopelle abandoned the surrealist explorations of the unconscious in order to open up to the world,” as he now felt that chance was the product of consciousness.

In 1963 and 1964, Riopelle’s paper works were characterized by pale, floating backgrounds with black marks and lines pulling up to the surface. In 1964, he did a number of works like this in which the lines were connected to black lozenge shapes. Hovering above softly modulated areas of white and grey punctuated by patches of gold, blue and red, lines and lozenge shapes meander, entangle and drift off the edge of the paper. Rich, dimensional and full of action, Sans titre embodies both Riopelle’s abandonment to chance and his focused and intentional mastery over the elements of his painting.


Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD

All prices are in Canadian Dollars


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