Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2002)

‘In a conversation I had with him not long ago, I was struck principally by his sensitivity to things natural, to cold, to heat, and to the resulting connection--unconscious no doubt--between the execution of his paintings and, for example, the seasons. This great shower of vivid reds, of fresh greens, of bright yellows bursting in all directions, like the vegetative explosion that marks the return of warm weather, was actually painted in the spring, and probably because it was spring; it was during one of our gloomy Parisian winters, however, that he created this melancholy symphony of grey, black and livid whites that is so in tune with the unpleasant season from which it likely sprang. Linked, as they are, to life and nature, how could his paintings be other than alive? Especially since they embody the abstract mode to perfection.’ BERNARD DORIVAL