Pierre Gauvreau

Pierre Saint-Mars Gauvreau (23 August 1922 – 7 April 2011) was a Canadian painter and writer who also worked in film and television production.

Career He was born in Montreal, and enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal in 1937, today part of UQAM. He became a member of the Contemporary Art Society in 1939. Gauvreau served overseas with the Canadian Army and on his return to Montreal, went back to the École des Beaux-Arts for two more years of study. The second Automatist show took place in his mother's apartment, the home he shared with his brother, Claude Gauvreau, a writer, and it was at this exhibition that the group was first referred to as the Automatistes. The publication contained reproductions of his recent paintings. the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Québec; and many other galleries, including the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa.

Gauvreau's career was the subject of a Charles Binamé documentary, l'obligation de la liberté, and a biography. One of his works, The Bottom of the Closet, was reproduced on a 45-cent postage stamp in 1998 for a set of seven stamps for the Automatistes.

Gauvreau died on 7 April 2011 of heart failure at the age of 88.

Awards and recognition 1990: Prix Gemeaux, Grand Prix for his film and television work 1995: le Prix Louis-Philippe-Hébert