Take a look inside Espace Riopelle — home to the works of Quebec’s most famous painter

This is the new space dedicated to one of Quebec's, one of Canada's most successful artists. Before his death in 2002, Jean-Paul Riopelle produced close to 7,000 works. His paintings, sculptures, lithographs can be found around the world. And now at the Musée National des Beaux-Arts in Quebec City, the Espace Riopelle Michael O'Donoghue serves as a home to preserve and promote his contribution to modern art. I'm just a, I would call, I'm an artist groupie. Jean-Paul Riopelle wanted to have his foundation, his own foundation, establish a collection of his work here in the capital of the province of Quebec. And so I felt it's wonderful that his dream, and it was really a dream, has been realized. Along with two other private donors, Michael O'Donoghue partnered with the province, the city of Quebec, and the museum's foundation to build the $84 million pavilion. The museum has one of the largest Riopelle collections in the world. From that collection, there are over 130 works currently on display. Born in Montreal in 1923, Riopelle was a signatory to the anti-establishment manifesto, the Refus Global. Choosing a palette knife over a paintbrush, creating at very large scale, much of his work is described as free-spirited and gestural. I first saw Jean-Paul Riopelle's work when I was 15 or 16. My headmaster at my school in Ontario, he said, Michael, he said, that is abstract painting. Later, when I was reading interviews with Jean-Paul Riopelle, he said, I never painted one abstract work in my life. You know, he made this statement that to abstract something is to take from it. He says, I do the opposite. I go right into the soul and the spirit of the landscape. The pavilion's location on the Plains of Abraham and its design echo the landscape that inspired Riopelle. And it includes room for others who have shaped the history of modern art in Quebec. It's actually great for an artist to understand that the society you live in values creation and the act of making art. Marc Sagan was a young art student when he met Riopelle. His tribute to his mentor towers 160 feet into the Montreal skyline, and he's excited about what the world will learn thanks to this space dedicated to a Québécois master. We're sending a message that art from here is important for us. that is huge saying okay so these these people that little country are proud of this person it's the start of something great