On the 100th anniversary of the birth of visual artist Jean Paul Riopelle.
The artwork appearing on the reverse of the 2023 $2 circulation coin honouring Jean Paul Riopelle offers a small yet poignant glimpse of Riopelle's acrylic and spray paint 1992 masterpiece: L'Hommage à Rosa Luxemburg. The immense 40-metre-wide triptych, consists of 30 separate panels rife with natural imagery and coded symbolism. It was painted in tribute to his lifelong partner, Joan Mitchell, upon her passing in 1992. Created at Riopelle's studio on Ile-aux-Oies, an island in the estuary of the Saint Lawrence River near Quebec City, the fresco features the recurring theme of bird-like silhouettes, two of which from Panel 29 appear on the reverse of the coin. The coloured version of the coin captures the original colours of this multi-media masterpiece