This book, published to accompany
the exhibition of the same title, explores Jean-Paul Riopelle's interest
in northern Canada and his works devoted to this theme. It highlights
in particular the wonderful series of paintings he made in the 1970s,
including both the works themselves and archival materials that delve
into this period when Riopelle was especially energetic. It was a time
when he organised a number of trips to the region to fish, hunt, and
immerse himself in nature, seeking the communion that was so dear to
him.


But it was not just the vegetation in northern Canada that
attracted Riopelle; the indigenous peoples he encountered were also a
source of great inspiration for him. In combination, these two aspects
of the land filled his imagination and molded his intellectual and
artistic perspective.


The reader will become acquainted with his
less well known and unpublished works, and follow Riopelle's artistic
development as he ranged over the frozen landscapes of the far north and
the limitless forests further south, taking stock of the way the
natives adapted to their environment. The book emphasises the fact that
Riopelle's oeuvre deliberately kept its distance from works that
depicted nature as the defining emblem of the Canadian nation. Rather,
the artist was the bearer of a unique personal sensibility that was able
to visually evoke that particular territory in a dialogue between
reality and imagination.


The more than 100 works included in the
book (paintings, sculptures, prints, and mixed-media works) are part of a
narrative consisting of four main sections (Canadian Nordicity as
Viewed from Paris; The Experience of the North; Borrowing from the
North; The North and Art), whose themes are examined in essays
contributed by specialists in relevant fields.