Modern Art

Following its complete redesign for the opening of the Espace Riopelle, the gallery devoted to the national modern art collection will offer an extensive overview of art from this period, focusing on artistic subjectivity and appreciation of form.

Around 50 artists will be featured, including 24 women. They will be grouped into thematic sections that present the major trends and events in the history of modern art in Québec.

Portraits and urban scenes

The exhibition will open with a rich selection of portraits and urban scenes, as the city became a popular subject for artists in the early decades of the 20th century. It will also show how, in the 1930s and 40s, Québec artists reinvented figurative art, pursuing innovative formal experiments and asserting absolute creative freedom.

Riopelle, Paul-Émile Borduas and the Automatistes

It will showcase the work of the Automatistes, a group of artists led by Paul-Émile Borduas who rejected traditional values in favour of non-figurative art and the dynamics of gesture. Specifically, it will draw several illuminating parallels between Riopelle and the other painters of the movement, directly comparing some of his works with theirs.

It will also explore the Automatistes’ multidisciplinary approach, illustrating their work in dance, poetry, and photography. Lastly, it will present the famous Refus global manifesto, which is considered one of the founding texts of Québec modernity, and show how the influence of automatism was distilled in the art of the 1960s.

The exhibition design, built around an exceptional selection of sculptures representative of the period’s various currents, will offer a remarkable overview of modern aesthetics, bridging the gap between the Espace Riopelle and the Gérard Morisset Pavilion.