Place Jean-Paul Riopelle

Last updated
Place Jean-Paul Riopelle
Jp-riopelle-joute.jpg
La Joute on Place Jean-Paul Riopelle.
Montreal-blank.png
Red pog.svg
Location Quartier international, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Coordinates 45°30′11″N73°33′40″W / 45.503°N 73.561°W / 45.503; -73.561
Created2004

Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle is a public square located in the Quartier international of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Contents

The square is bordered to the south by Saint Antoine Street West and the 27-storey château-style InterContinental Hotel, to the east is Bleury Street and the Palais des congrès de Montréal, to the west is the CDP Capital Centre and to the north is Viger Avenue West.

History

The square was created in 2004 and was built over the Ville-Marie Expressway at the same time as the CDP Capital Centre. It was named in honour of Quebec artist Jean-Paul Riopelle who died in 2002. His fountain sculpture La Joute was moved to the square from the Olympic Park in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.

Features

Le Grand Jean-Paul (2003) by Roseline Granet. Le Grand Jean-Paul.jpg
Le Grand Jean-Paul (2003) by Roseline Granet.

In the northern part of the square, a water basin highlights a sculpture by Jean-Paul Riopelle, titled La Joute (English: The Joust). La Joute's central element is a fountain with alternating water jets. A circle of fire appears on the surface of the water during summer evenings. This work was previously installed at the Olympic Park since 1976.

A sculpture representing Jean-Paul Riopelle (Le Grand Jean-Paul) stands in between the trees on the southern part of the square. It was realized by Roseline Granet in 2003.

Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle contains eighty-eight trees from eleven different species, including the Sugar Maple and Bitternut Hickory. These mature trees are planted in a random pattern reminiscent of a computer printed circuits. From the ground, gutters project light mist during late night entertainment of "La Joute".

La Joute

The relocation of La Joute to Place Jean-Paul Riopelle provoked controversy and outrage from residents of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, who claimed that moving it from the Olympic Park to the Quartier international deprived it of the context required for its full meaning as an homage to sport. Those who supported the move, including the Government of Quebec and Riopelle's heirs, argued it would allow the work to be more widely seen and exhibited as the artist intended, including the fountain and fire elements Riopelle designed. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Paul Riopelle</span> Canadian painter and sculptor (1923–2002)

Jean-Paul Riopelle, was a Canadian painter and sculptor from Quebec. He had one of the longest and most important international careers of the sixteen signatories of the Refus Global, the 1948 manifesto that announced the Quebecois artistic community's refusal of clericalism and provincialism. He is best known for his abstract painting style, in particular his "mosaic" works of the 1950s when he famously abandoned the paintbrush, using only a palette knife to apply paint to canvas, giving his works a distinctive sculptural quality. He became the first Canadian painter since James Wilson Morrice to attain widespread international recognition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hochelaga-Maisonneuve</span> Neighbourhood in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Hochelaga-Maisonneuve is a neighbourhood in Montreal, Canada, situated in the east end of the island, generally to the south of the city's Olympic Stadium and east of downtown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie</span> Borough of Montreal in Quebec, Canada

Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie is a borough (arrondissement) in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located centre-east of the island.

<i>La Joute</i>

La Joute (1969) is a public sculptural installation by Quebec artist Jean-Paul Riopelle, a member of the Automatiste movement. It is currently located in Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle in the Quartier international de Montréal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underground City, Montreal</span> Network of interconnected buildings in the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada

RÉSO, commonly referred to as the Underground City, is the name applied to a series of interconnected office towers, hotels, shopping centres, residential and commercial complexes, convention halls, universities and performing arts venues that form the heart of Montreal's central business district, colloquially referred to as Downtown Montreal. The name refers to the underground connections between the buildings that compose the network, in addition to the network's complete integration with the city's entirely underground rapid transit system, the Montreal Metro. Moreover, the first iteration of the Underground City was developed out of the open pit at the southern entrance to the Mount Royal Tunnel, where Place Ville Marie and Central Station stand today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Place des Arts</span> Performing arts centre in Montreal

Place des Arts is a major performing arts centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the largest cultural and artistic complex in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ville-Marie, Montreal</span> Borough of Montreal in Quebec, Canada

Ville-Marie is the name of a borough (arrondissement) in the centre of Montreal, Quebec. The borough is named after Fort Ville-Marie, the French settlement that would later become Montreal, which was located within the present-day borough. Old Montreal is a National Historic Site of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve</span> Borough of Montreal in Quebec, Canada

Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve is a borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada located in the southeastern end of the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quartier international de Montréal</span> Neighbourhood in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The Quartier international de Montréal (QIM) or Montreal's International District is a district of the Ville-Marie borough in the city's downtown core of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is roughly bordered by René-Levesque Boulevard to the north, Notre-Dame Street to the south, De Bleury/Saint-Pierre Street to the east and Robert-Bourassa Boulevard to the west. The Palais des congrès building lying just east of the district is also usually comprised in it. Constructed dispersedly between 1965 and 1985 in place of older colonial housing blocks, the district underwent major urban renewal as a central business district in 2000–2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Catherine Street</span> Street in Montreal, Canada

Sainte-Catherine Street is the primary commercial artery of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It crosses the central business district from west to east, beginning at the corner of Claremont Avenue and de Maisonneuve Boulevard in Westmount, and ending at the Grace Dart Extended Care Centre by Assomption metro station, where it folds back into Notre-Dame Street. It also traverses Ville-Marie, passing just east of Viau in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. The street is 11.2 km long, and considered the backbone of Downtown Montreal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Square, Montreal</span>

Victoria Square is a town square and public space in the Quartier International de Montréal area of downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, at the intersection of Beaver Hall Hill and McGill Street. The Square forms an integral component of the city's urban public transit system and constitutes a 'prestige address' for the international face of the city. It is bordered by Viger Street to the north, Saint Jacques Street to the south, Beaver Hall Hill to the west and Square Victoria Street along the eastern side. As with other city squares, Square Victoria is open 24 hours per day to all citizens of Montreal and provides the role of an urban breathing space, with dense foliage to the south that tapers as the square rises up Beaver Hall Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Le Plateau-Mont-Royal</span> Borough of Montreal in Quebec, Canada

Le Plateau-Mont-Royal is a borough (arrondissement) of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Montreal</span> Neighbourhood, central business district of Montreal in Quebec, Canada

Downtown Montreal is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Montreal was referred to as "Canada's Cultural Capital" by Monocle Magazine. The city is Canada's centre for French-language television productions, radio, theatre, film, multimedia, and print publishing. The Quartier Latin is a neighbourhood crowded with cafés animated by this literary and musical activity. Montreal's many cultural communities have given it a distinct local culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centre-Sud</span> Neighbourhood in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The Centre-Sud is a neighbourhood located in the easternmost edge of the Ville-Marie borough of the city of Montreal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ontario Street (Montreal)</span>

Ontario Street is an east-west artery in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It crosses the boroughs of Ville-Marie and Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. In the latter borough, the street becomes a mix of residential and commercial and is known as Promenade Ontario.

Richer Dompierre is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served on the Montreal city council from 1998 to 2009, initially as a member of Vision Montreal (VM) and later for the rival Union Montreal (UM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toqué!</span> Restaurant in Quebec, Canada

Toqué! is a restaurant in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 900 Place Jean-Paul Riopelle in the CDP Capital Centre in the Quartier international neighbourhood of the Ville-Marie borough.

Éric Alan Caldwell is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He has served on the Montreal city council since 2013, representing the Hochelaga division as a member of Projet Montréal. In November 2017, he was appointed to the Montreal executive committee by new mayor Valérie Plante.

References

  1. Lamarche, Bernard (2002-04-19). "La Joute au Stade olympique - Le Riopelle doit déménager pour assurer sa préservation". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 2008-03-20.