Art lovers are used to admiring the work of the great Jean Paul Riopelle with their eyes. They can now discover the flavors designed by François Chartier in the new space dedicated to the Quebec painter, which will open at the end of 2025 at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.
The internationally renowned Québec sommelier began a few months ago to create “an olfactory experience” around the monumental fresco L’Tribute à Rosa Luxembourg, 40 meters long and made up of 30 paintings.
Photo from the estate of Jean Paul Riopelle/SODRAC
The work Hommage à Rosa Luxembourg consists of 30 paintings and is 40 meters long.
Flavors are integrated into the work by means of diffusers. Given the visual richness of the canvas, François Chartier is spoiled for choice.
“We see geese, ferns, the biodiversity of the Isle-aux-Grues, we see colors. There’s Riopelle’s story with Joan Mitchell, so there’s grief and death. We are in the process of choosing what we want people to experience. You will arrive in front of a panel, you will smell the fern. In front of another panel, it will be something more complex that will make you think about death or life,” he explains in an interview with the Journal.
Photo by Bruce Damonte, provided by MNBAQ
For example, museum visitors can currently admire the Riopelle triptych in the Lassonde Pavilion of the MNBAQ.
There used to be Picasso
La Rosa, currently on display in the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion, will become one of the focal points of the future Espace Riopelle. The spectacular triptych will be relocated to a circular space atop the new $42.5 million pavilion being built at the MNBAQ campus in Quebec City.
This isn’t the first time Mr Chartier has created scents for paintings. In 2018 he designed aromas for ten works by Pablo Picasso as part of an exhibition in Barcelona.
“It allowed people to experience Picasso differently, to be touched at the level of emotions and memories,” says the sommelier, who believes that the union of visual art and olfactory experiences is destined for a bright future.
“With aromas you can play with emotions, and that is art. In my opinion we will see many olfactory experiences developing in museums around the world. If we’re about to create this revolution from Quebec, and the future will tell us, so much the better. »