Quebec painter Jean-Paul Riopelle was one of the most influential artists in Canadian history, according Paul Maréchal, curator of the art collection at the Power Corporation.
Riopelle's work is incredibly sought-after, and as such his paintings have been targeted by thieves a number of times.
Jean-Paul Riopelle and Fernand Leduc at the exhibition Automatisme at the Galerie de Luxembourg, Paris, 1947. (Art Canada Institute/www.aci-iac.ca)
The Sûreté du Québec recovered three of Riopelle's paintings, stolen in 1999, at a private residence in Montreal Monday.
The works are worth approximately $150,000, the SQ said in a statement.
Maréchal likened Riopelle's works to those of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, adding Riopelle was one of the most internationaly-recognized Canadian artists in the 20th century.
"He was the only artist who could sell his works in London, Paris, New York galleries, Milan and Germany."
A recurring issue with Riopelle's work
SQ spokesman Sgt. Claude Denis said the theft was committed "in a kind of warehouse" of an airport containing "goods coming from outside Canada." in 1999
This isn't the first time Riopelle's work has been recovered in Montreal or the surrounding areas. In 2010, lithographs that had been stolen in Montreal between 1999 and 2004 were sold on the website Kijiji.
The massive bronze statues (pictured) by the late Jean-Paul Riopelle weigh about 450 kilograms each. (SQ/Canadian Press)
In 2011, two statues he made in 1963 were stolen from Riopelle's Esterel, Que., workshop and subsequently found nearby, broken in two pieces.
And in May 2014, a painting worth $225,000 that was stolen from a Toronto art gallery was found in a Montreal home.
Promoter of the abstract movement
Maréchal highlighted Riopelle's role as one of the signatories of the Refus global manifesto, published in 1948 by a collective of Quebec artists.
Each of the recovered Riopelle paintings are worth $50,000. (Photo from the SQ)
"That manifesto was considered a very founding moment in the development of abstract art in Canada. That manifesto requested more political and religious freedom from the authorities of the time."
Maréchal told CBC Montreal's Daybreak that it's possible, but unlikely that the person who had the paintings last came by the collection honestly.
"When you acquire a painting, you always have to do a little research, as a buyer, to make sure that the provenance, the previous collections the paintings were in are legit, and the chain of provenance is good," he said.
"It's part of any collector's duty to make sure they aren't buying a stolen work of art."
Stolen Jean-Paul Riopelle paintings worth $150K found in Montreal
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