The Canadian artist Jean-Paul Riopelle is undoubtedly one of the foremost representatives of Spontaneism. Layer upon layer of colour is applied in large, dense patches, overlaid with lighter strokes of paint that create striking contrasts.

Riopelle was born in Montreal, where in the 1930s he took drawing lessons alongside his studies in architecture, photography and construction technology. In the 1940s, he continued his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts and became a member of the artistic movement known as Les Automatistes. After reading André Breton’s Le Surréalisme et la Peinture, he began experimenting with “non-objective” painting.

Riopelle later moved to Paris, where he was the only Canadian artist to exhibit alongside the Surrealists. He became known as the “Wild Canadian”. His first solo exhibition was held at Galerie La Dragonne in Paris, where he also met his soulmate, the American artist Joan Mitchell. Their relationship proved fruitful both intellectually and artistically, but was also highly turbulent, marked by serious struggles with alcohol.

Joan Mitchell died in 1979, a tragedy that deeply affected Jean-Paul Riopelle. As late as 1992, he painted what is now regarded as one of the greatest achievements of his artistic career: Hommage à Rosa Luxemburg, a tribute to love and to Joan Mitchell.

Riopelle created his artworks in a single, uninterrupted burst of activity. Before beginning a painting, he prepared all the colours he anticipated needing, allowing him to concentrate entirely on the canvas. He described his process as follows:

“I would even go as far to say—obviously I don't use a palette, but the idea of a palette or a selection of colors that is not mine makes me uncomfortable, because when I work, I can't waste my time searching for them. It has to work right away.”

"Les deux Menhires" was acquired from Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet. During the 20th century, the gallery established a reputation in Stockholm for introducing significant international artists such as Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse, among others, to Swedish audiences.

Riopelle exhibited at Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet in 1959. Together with an exhibition at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York, this helped generate considerable international demand for his work during the 1960s.

Jean-Paul Riopelle is undoubtedly regarded as one of Canada's most important artists of the 20th century. He rose to prominence during the post-war art scene in Paris, where he worked alongside fellow artists and friends including André Breton, Sam Francis and Samuel Beckett.