Obverse. Photo © Royal Canadian Mint
  • 2 Dollars 2023, Canada, Elizabeth II, 100th Anniversary of Birth of Jean Paul Riopelle
  • 2 Dollars 2023, Canada, Elizabeth II, 100th Anniversary of Birth of Jean Paul Riopelle
Description

On the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary visual artist Jean Paul Riopelle, the Royal Canadian Mint issued a $2 circulation coin recognizing his status as one of Canada's, and the world's, most influential artists of the 20th century.

Jean Paul Riopelle (1923–2002) 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.

Obverse

Fourth portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, when she was 77 years old, facing right and surrounded by the inscription. On the right, the four pearls symbolise the four effigies that have graced Canadian coins and the double date of her reign.

Dei Gratia Regina (often abbreviated to D. G. Regina and seen as D·G·REGINA) is a Latin title meaning By the Grace of God, Queen.

Engraver: Susanna Blunt

ELIZABETH II 2023 D • G • REGINA
SB
1952 2022

Reverse

Depicts a pair of wild geese, a cropped detail from a section (Panel 29) of Jean Paul Riopelle’s monumental fresco, L’Hommage à Rosa Luxemburg. Created in 1992, the 40-metre long, 30-panelled tryptic was one of Riopelle’s final and most significant works and features acrylic and spray-painted silhouettes – including the emblematic birds.

A coded meditation on love and loss, the art forms a symbolic representation of the life Riopelle shared with his former companion, American painter Joan Mitchell. The name of the piece, L’Hommage à Rosa Luxemburg, derives from a nickname given to Mitchell by Riopelle, “Rosa Malheur”—a reference to French painter Rosa Bonheur (1822–1899) and to Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919), a Polish-German revolutionary.

Unlike his signature mosaics, which he used a palette knife to produce, Riopelle used spray paint and acrylics to create this sprawling masterpiece. A variety of silhouettes are showcased and were created from real-life objects he placed and painted over. Today, L’Hommage à Rosa Luxemburg can be found on display at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in Quebec City.

2 DOLLARS CANADA
RIOPELLE
100

Edge

CANADA * 2 DOLLARS *

Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Bi-Metallic
Ring Nickel Plated Steel
Center Brass Plated Aluminium Bronze
Weight 6.99 g
Diameter 28 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Royal Canadian Mint (RCM)

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