Pierre Gauvreau

1922-2011


Pierre Gauvreau was born in Montreal, Quebec. He enrolled at École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal in the late 1930’s and there he discovered French modernism through magazine reproductions. His works made under this influence attracted painter Paul-Émile Borduas’ attention and soon after he invited Gauvreau to join a group of young radical intellectuals and artists who met informally in his studio. Like many of the young artists in the group, Gauvreau and his poet brother Claude Gauvreau quickly became interested in the surrealist idea of automatism as a way of releasing creativity.

In 1943, Gauvreau and others were invited to join and exhibit with the Contemporary Art Society, which fostered Québec's most adventurous art from artists such as John Lyman, Philip Surrey, Stanley Cosgrove and Paul-Émile Borduas. From 1943 to 1946, Gauvreau served overseas in the Canadian Army but continued to paint and show his works in Canada, sending paintings to his brother Claude in Montreal. In 1946, while still posted in England, he took part in the Exposition de la rue Amherst, a showing considered to be the premiere of the Automatiste group. He came back from England soon after and, for the next two years, pursued further studies at École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal. During this time he exhibited with members of Borduas’s group at the Boas Dance Studio in New York City, took part in the Contemporary Art Society exhibition of 1946 and the following year a one-man show of his works was held in Montreal. That same year, Gauvreau exhibited once more with Borduas’s followers and it was on this occasion that the term "Automatistes" was first used to identify the group.

In 1948, Gauvreau signed Paul-Émile Borduas’s manifesto Refus Global along with fifteen other members of the group of intellectuals and artists. Among the group were dancers, poets, film makers and the Automatistes painters Marcelle Ferron, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Fernand Leduc, Jean-Paul Mousseau and Marcel Barbeau. Refus Global expressed their determination to throw off the old traditions which they felt inhibited their artistic exploration. The manifesto, which also contested Catholic values, later unleashed a revolution of artistic creation in Canada.

During the 1950’s, Gauvreau kept painting and exhibiting at various venues in Montreal. He held one-man shows in 1950 and 1953, and the following year he was part of the exhibition La Matière Chante held at Galerie Antoine. Still in 1954, Gauvreau was part of a group of artists portrayed in Artists in Montreal, a documentary produced by the National Film Board of Canada under the direction of Jean Palardy. In 1955, he was part of the "Espace ’55" exhibition held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, along with Ulysse Comtois, Patterson Ewen, Jean McEwen, Paul-Émile Borduas, Louis Hémon , Noël Lajoie, Fernand Leduc, Rita Letendre, Jean-Paul Mousseau and Guido Molinari. By the mid 1950’s, Gauvreau turned his attention to radio, film-making, theatre and television while still painting and exhibiting, notably at the 35 Peintres dans l’Actualité exhibition held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1957. In 1961 he held a one-man show at Galerie Denyse Delrue in Montreal and the following year he represented Canada at the Festival Dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy.

In the early 1960’s, Gauvreau stopped painting and worked exclusively in the television and movie industry. He came back to painting in 1975 while still working for television and cinema. During his years in television and cinema, he worked for the National Film Board of Canada, the French CBC and Radio-Québec. He wrote, produced or directed many famous French-Canadian shows such as Pépinot, Radisson, Rue De L'anse, Le temps d’une paix, Cormoran, Le volcan tranquille and movies such as Mon oncle Antoine, IXE-13 and Le temps d’une chasse. Gauvreau also directed television series on naïve art, history and theatre.

During the course of the last three decades, Gauvreau kept painting and exhibiting at various art galleries and museums such as the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal (1979), Maison des Arts de Laval (1994), Musée d’Art de Mont-Saint-Hilaire (1998), Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Sherbrooke (2003-2004). His works were shown in various exhibitions on the Automatiste, notably at the Grand Palais de Paris (1971), Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal (1971-1972, 1978-1979), Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (1979) and the Varley Art Museum (2009-2010). Other than the shows mentioned above, Gauvreau’s works were also shown in various group shows such as The Collective Unconscious exhibition held at the Edmonton Art Gallery (1975-1976), Trois Générations d’Art Québécois, 40, 50, 60 held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (1976) and the Modern Painting in Canada exhibition held at the Edmonton Art Gallery (1978). In 1995, Gauvreau was awarded the Louis-Philippe Hébert prize for his pictorial oeuvre and in 1998 one of his works was used on stamps by Canada Post. His career was also the subject of a documentary film in 2001. 

Collections:

- National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Montreal, QC)
- Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal (Montreal, QC)
- Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (Quebec City, QC)
- Musée d’Art de Joliette (Joliette, QC)
- Musée des Beaux-Arts de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke, QC)
- Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, ON)
- Edmonton Art Gallery (Edmonton, AB)
- Beaverbrook Art Gallery (Fredericton, NB)
- Windsor Art Gallery (Windsor, ON)
- Agnes Etherington Art Centre (Kingston, ON)
- Musée du Bas St-Laurent (Rivière-du-Loup, QC)
- Musée d’Art de Mont-Saint-Hilaire (Saint-Hilaire, QC)
- Musée du Séminaire (Quebec City, QC)
- Musée de Lachine (Lachine, QC)
- Musée Régional de Rimouski (Rimouski, QC)
- Musée de la Civilisation (Quebec City, QC)
- The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa, ON)
- Concordia University (Montreal, QC)
- Université de Montréal (Montreal, QC)
- Université du Québec à Montréal (Montreal, QC)
- Canada Council for the Arts (Ottawa, ON)
- Library and Archives Canada (Ottawa, ON)
- Loto-Quebec (Montreal, QC)
- National Bank of Canada (Montreal, QC)
- Royal Bank of Canada (Montreal, QC)
- First City Trust (Toronto, ON)
- Toronto Dominion Bank (Toronto, ON)
- ESSO Resources (Calgary, AB)
- Imperial Oil (Calgary, AB)
- Power Corporation of Canada (Montreal, QC)

Affiliations:

- Contemporary Art Society (1943)
- Automatistes
- Quebec Modern Group