Museum abandons Riopelle plans
About a year ago, the Museum of Fine Arts announced plans for a new wing dedicated to the work of Jean-Paul Riopelle, but it’s giving up the plan. It’s not long since Quebec pulled the plug on the funding.
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Kate
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dmdiem 23:13 on 2020-11-22 Permalink
I found “la joute” by accident. It was one of the most magical moments of my life.
Kate 23:55 on 2020-11-22 Permalink
Was it steaming when you saw it?
dmdiem 06:16 on 2020-11-23 Permalink
I had just moved to old Montreal and was exploring the neighbourhood. I found what I thought was a nice little park and took a seat on a bench. A few minutes later the mist started. I looked around and no one was freaking out so I thought, “ok… lets see where this goes”. A few minutes after that, the entire park was shrouded in fog and a few minutes after that, the fountain water caught fire.
It was a magical experience. I had no idea it was an art installation. I honestly thought it was just a nice little park. It felt like I had accidentally stumbled upon the train to Hogwarts.
Kate 11:52 on 2020-11-23 Permalink
So cool to get the experience unexpectedly like that!
Riopelle was primarily a painter – in fact, if what I’ve read is correct, La Joute was pretty much his only major sculpture. For a long time it was kept in the Olympic park, and you could see it from one of the entrances to Pie-IX metro. Then Ville-Marie yoinked it from Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, which was regarded as a dubious move at the time. But undoubtedly the piece is now seen by more people, and the mist-and-fire effects were put into effect in the square, which they hadn’t been able to do when it was parked down by the stadium.