The painting looks back to the last great series of works by Claude Monet (1840–1926), Water Lilies (Nymphéas), 1920–26, found at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris. Its alternative title, Hommage aux Nymphéas, and the explicit reference to Monet are attributed to Riopelle’s close friend the critic Patrick Waldberg. Riopelle’s rhythmic palette knife strokes and combinations of shimmering colour give the work an organic impression. It is as if the piece quivers with movement in a similar manner to that of the Water Lilies (Nymphéas). This vast composition depicts, without seeking to mimic, the living materials of the natural world: water, plants, flowers, and above all else, fleeting light.   In Pavane Riopelle went against the ideas of the French art critic Georges Duthuit (1891–1973), who asked the artist to create “voids, spaces where thought can and should move.” In response, Riopelle created a scene where movement prevails over everything else, from top to bottom and back again. The problem contemplated by Duthuit, that of a canvas which could appear full yet empty, escaped Riopelle. Even the white palette knife strokes, seen in the lower left and right sections of the far panels and in the upper half of the centre panel, do not create voids. They become simply another feature of the composition and rest harmoniously among the coloured strokes.   This Spotlight is excerpted from Jean Paul Riopelle: Life & Work by François-Marc Gagnon.