Jean-Paul Riopelle was born october 7th, 1923 in Montréal. From his early childhood , he loved drawing with a passion. He took private lessons, studied design at the École du Meuble in Montréal, and discovered Surrealism and Modern Art with Paul-Émile Borduas. En 1947, he settled in Paris.

In 1948, he signed the manifesto Refus Global. From 1949 on, he held many solo exhibitions in Canada, France, England, Germany, Switzerland. Sweden, Italy, Spain and the United States. He also participated in many international exhibitions: the International Surrealist Exhibition in New-York (1947); the International Exhibition in Pittsburgh (1961, 1964); the National museum of Modern Art Biennial in Tokyo, en 1969. En 1963, the National Gallery of Canada organized a major exhibition of his works throughout Canada. In 1967, the Musée du Québec presented a first retrospective of his work.

In 1981, the Jean-Paul Riopelle Exhibition, peinture 1946-1971, travelled to many graet modern art museums throughout the world. In 1972, the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris exhibited his recent works as well as a series of prints: Ficelles. In 1989, the Matisse Gallery in New-York dedicated tow major exhibitions to his works of the 50’s ( with catalogue).

In 1989, Canada gave France a mural by Riopelle worth over 1$ million, in honor of the Bicentennial of the French Revolution.