A major project in tribute to Riopelle in Quebec

(Quebec) A pavilion dedicated to one of the greatest painters in Quebec history, Jean Paul Riopelle, will be built at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ), learned Press. The Legault government will invest $ 20 million in this project, which would be close to $ 45 million.

Tommy Chouinard
Press

The new pavilion will host works by Riopelle from private and public collections. The official announcement should be made towards the end of next week.

In its minibudget unveiled Thursday, the Legault government indicates in four short sentences, among the 354 pages of the document, that it intends to “invest in a large-scale cultural project”, without revealing its nature. It provides for “an infrastructure investment of 20 million”.

However, according to our information, it is indeed the construction of a pavilion dedicated to Riopelle at the MNBAQ, in the capital. This project is part of the celebrations planned for the centenary of the artist’s birth in 2023.

Originally, a “Riopelle wing” was to be created at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA), following an agreement between Nathalie Bondil, former Director General of the MMFA, and the businessman. Canadian and great collector of Riopelle Michael Audain. It was at the request of the Museum, with the aim of honoring Riopelle in his hometown.

In a decree adopted on March 25, 2020, the government granted 10 million to this project. The architectural plans were produced in early 2020 by the Riopelle Foundation, at a cost of $ 200,000. After M^me Bondil was sacked with a bang, in July 2020, his successor, Stéphane Aquin, decided to end the project, leaving Michael Audain disappointed and stunned by this turnaround.

This decision paved the way for the creation of a full-fledged museum – as Michael Audain had created one in Whistler, British Columbia – or for the transfer of a Riopelle wing to another Quebec museum. The hypothesis of converting the Saint-Sulpice library in the metropolis into Espace Riopelle was thus examined and then rejected.

Last fall, Prime Minister François Legault and Minister of Culture and Communications Nathalie Roy met with representatives of the Riopelle Foundation – President Michael Audain, Executive Director Manon Gauthier and founding member Pierre Lassonde. They discussed the celebrations of the centenary of Riopelle and in particular the fate of the construction of a space dedicated to Riopelle. The idea of ​​transferring the project to the MNBAQ, on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec, was retained later, following talks. This project will be on a larger scale than what was initially planned in Montreal.

It is a second space that will be added to the MNBAQ in a few years. The Lassonde pavilion, on Grande Allée, opened in 2016, a project that cost $ 105 million from governments and private partners, including Pierre Lassonde.

The Riopelle pavilion at the MNBAQ will contain works that the Museum already owns, but also those that Michael Audain intended for the MMFA and works loaned or donated by major collectors Pierre Lassonde and André Desmarais.

In addition to the $ 20 million for construction, the government plans to pay $ 7 million, starting in 2024, to ensure the operation of the project.

With this announcement, François Legault will seek to exploit once again the theme of pride. At the start of his term, he linked nationalism to three pillars: secularism, language and culture. If it has already acted on the first and that the reform of Bill 101 is being studied in the National Assembly, the last pillar seemed to be shaky so far. The government has been trying to straighten it out for several months.

In June, he announced the creation of the Espaces Bleues network, museums devoted to regional history and local heroes, at a cost of 259 million. The Riopelle pavilion will be another initiative to celebrate one of the great artists in Quebec history.