Robert Ayre

Robert Hugh Ayre LL. D. (April3, 1900 December23, 1980) was a pioneering art critic for the Montreal Star who wrote about Canadian art for 20 years (1950–1970) and an author of juvenile fiction inspired by legends of the First Nations.

Career Ayre was born in Napinka in rural Manitoba and grew up there. In 1920, he got a job as a cub-reporter for the Winnipeg Telegram. In 1924, he moved to a job at the Winnipeg Free Press. In 1927, he got a job in the Publicity Department of the Canadian National Railway (CNR) in Winnipeg and from then on was assured of financial stability.

He began to write free-lance for the Canadian Forum magazine from 1928 on. He also wrote articles for the Queen's Quarterly. From 1932 to 1934, he became editor of the CNR Magazine and met Lawren Harris and through him, other members of the Group of Seven. He was a founding member of the Canadian chapter of the International Art Critics Association (AICA Canada), established in 1955. J. Russell Harper said of him in 1976: I suspect that he has seen more Canadian paintings than any other single individual. In looking, and in writing about what he sees, he has demonstrated enlightenment in the finest humanitarian tradition. His fonds is at Queens University, Kingston, Ontario. Concordia University, Montreal, Honorary Doctorate (LL. D.);