Quebec City fine arts museum announces completion of new pavilion dedicated to Jean Paul Riopelle

Michael Audain addresses a crowd at the unveiling of the Pavilion Riopelle - Michael Audain, in Quebec City on May 2, 2026. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Construction of the building that will house the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec’s new pavilion dedicated to the works of Jean Paul Riopelle is entering its final stages, two years after work began.

On Saturday, the handover ceremony took place, marking the final step before the inauguration of the Espace Riopelle — Michael Audain Pavilion, named in honour of the philanthropist and businessman for his significant contribution to the project.

For the occasion, Premier Christine Fréchette, Minister of Culture Mathieu Lacombe, Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand, and other private donors attended the pavilion’s unveiling.

“This is a great day,” Audain told The Canadian Press a few hours before unveiling this new sanctuary that will house part of his collection: a donation of 45 works by the autonomist artists Jean Paul Riopelle and Paul-Émile Borduas, valued at $76.9 million.

“Jean Paul Riopelle is a figure with whom I have been connected for many years and whom I have come to know, even though I never met him in person,” said Audain.

The entrepreneur has been collecting Riopelle’s works for “only 20 or 30 years,” which, at the age of 88, seems like a short period to him.

Nevertheless, the leading figure of the Automatist movement has been an integral part of Audain’s “very long life” since his youth.

“But, of course, for a long time, I couldn’t afford to buy even a single Riopelle,” he acknowledged.

In 2019, together with Riopelle’s daughter, Yseult, he established a foundation to help promote the legacy of the artist, who died in 2002.

A Canadian hero

For the British Columbia philanthropist, the Espace Riopelle represents much more than an exhibition hall; it is a bulwark against American culture that “is overwhelming us.”

“I think that today, it’s even more important. For all of us, from Newfoundland to British Columbia, to celebrate our cultural and sports heroes,” he said.

Everyone is familiar with the Riopelle of half a century ago, a signatory of the Refus global, noted Audain, but he is betting that most visitors will discover the painter from a new perspective.

“I don’t know what the pavilion will look like, but I can tell you it will house some gems,” he hinted.

His collection includes watercolours created when the painter was just 21 years old, and paintings depicting the Canadian Arctic painted in the 1970s.

“I think he depicted the land of snow and ice in a way that had never been seen before,” Audain observed.

‘Goosebumps’

Audain, who made his fortune in the construction industry in Western Canada, is accustomed to seeing buildings take shape from blueprints.

“It’s always a big moment when you see or can step inside a new building for the first time,” he explained. “When you’ve lived with the construction plans in your mind for a long time, seeing the building take shape always gives you chills.”

The creation of Espace Riopelle, with an estimated budget of $84 million, was announced in December 2021 as the result of a public-private partnership.

Businessman Pierre Lassonde, the Desmarais family—André Desmarais and his wife, France Chrétien Desmarais—as well as Audain have invested more than a quarter of this amount through the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation.

The Government of Quebec has committed $44 million, and Quebec City, $5 million. The city’s contribution “will enable the creation of a brand-new room dedicated to the monumental fresco titled ‘Homage to Rosa Luxemburg,’” according to the MNBAQ website.

The MNBAQ Foundation, for its part, is contributing $10 million.

As for the general public, they will have to wait for the pavilion’s official opening, scheduled for October.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 2, 2026.