Jean-Paul Riopelle (October 7, 1923 – March 12, 2002) was a renowned Canadian painter and sculptor from Quebec, celebrated for his long and impactful international career. As one of the sixteen signatories of the 1948 Refus Global manifesto, he helped reject Quebec's clerical and provincial constraints on the arts. Riopelle is especially known for his abstract "mosaic" works of the 1950s, where he famously set aside the paintbrush in favor of a palette knife, creating richly textured, almost sculptural canvases. He became the first Canadian artist since James Wilson Morrice to achieve widespread international acclaim and remains a leading figure in French Lyrical Abstraction.

Jean-Paul Riopelle - Wikipedia