Pierre Ayot
Pierre Ayot
1943 - 1995
Pierre Ayot is a multidisciplinary artist associated with the Pop Art movement in Quebec, popularized by artists such as Serge Lemoyne and COZIC. Ayot studied at the École des beaux-arts in Montreal from 1959 to 1962 under Albert Dumouchel, whose work in engraving inspired a generation of artists to explore the possibilities of this medium. In 1966, he founded Atelier Libre 848 that would later become Atelier Graff, an artist-run centre and studio that focused on research and experimentation in print-based media. He was also one of the founding members of the group Média, gravures et multiples. At the same time, Ayot also taught visual arts, first at the École des beaux-arts, and then at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Ayot worked in a variety of mediums - first with prints, as he was influenced by Dumouchel, then sculpture, painting, photography and installation. Inspired by the tenets of Pop Art, Ayot often selected and reinterpreted popular images – such as the logo of White Swan toilet paper in White Swan, a serigraph folding dated 1968, and shopping bags from Miracle Mart in his iconic 1967 serigraph Ma mère revenant de son shopping. Whether it was politics, food, construction, comic books or sports, Ayot took inspiration from daily life regardless of convention and hierarchy. He often included objects from everyday life in his works, such as with Boules de gomme (1970), a unique print on acrylic panel representing a bubble gum machine, on which he incorporated a clear plastic form containing real gumballs.

Important exhibitions have been organized of his work, such as Pierre Ayot et son Museum Circus at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in 1992 and Pierre Ayot: Hors-cadre(s) at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2001. In 2016, a major retrospective, Pierre Ayot – Regard critique, was held in Montreal in six different locations. The retrospective also included the recreation of one of Ayot’s most iconic pieces of public art, La Croix du mont Royal. The work consists of a replica of the cross that sits atop Mont-Royal laying on its side. The colossal sculpture was originally created for Corridart, a public art exhibition planned to run concurrently with the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, which was abruptly cancelled before it opened. The exhibition displayed works along Sherbrooke Street, between Pie-IX and Atwater, and included artists such as Françoise Sullivan, Melvin Charney and COZIC, among others. In a controversial decision, Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau had the exhibition dismantled during the night of July 13 to 14, two days before the Games opened. In the process, most artworks were destroyed by city workers. Thanks to the efforts of curators Marthe Carrier and Nicolas Mavrikakis, the sculpture was recreated to its original specifications, and people were able to admire La Croix du mont Royal at the intersection of Parc and Pins Avenues in Montreal, in the fall of 2016.

Ayot’s works are included in important private, corporate and museum collections, namely the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate Gallery in London. He was awarded the Louis-Philippe-Hébert Award in 1989. The Prix Pierre-Ayot was created in his memory in 1996 by the City of Montreal and the Association des galeries d'art contemporain, given yearly to an artist at the beginning of their career.
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Série tête à tête by Pierre Ayot sold for $7,500
Pierre Ayot
Série tête à tête
53 x 13 x 5 in, 134.6 x 33 x 12.7 cm
mixed media sculpture
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000 CDN
Sold for: $7,500 CDN (premium included)
March 2017 - 2nd Session on Thursday, March 30, 2017
Ma mère revenant de son shopping by Pierre Ayot sold for $5,313
Pierre Ayot
Ma mère revenant de son shopping
24 3/4 x 17 7/8 in, 62.9 x 45.4 cm
colour serigraph
Estimate: $1,000 - $2,000 CDN
Sold for: $5,313 CDN (premium included)
Prints & Multiples on Thursday, September 26, 2019
Boules de gomme by Pierre Ayot sold for $4,688
Pierre Ayot
Boules de gomme
62 x 25 x 2 in, 157.5 x 63.5 x 5.1 cm
mixed media on acrylic panel
Estimate: $5,000 - $7,000 CDN
Sold for: $4,688 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Thursday, March 26, 2020
Vie et mort de Tarzan by Pierre Ayot sold for $4,063
Pierre Ayot
Vie et mort de Tarzan
39 x 25 1/2 x 7 3/4 in, 99.1 x 64.8 x 19.7 cm
mixed media sculpture
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000 CDN
Sold for: $4,063 CDN (premium included)
Matter & Mass on Thursday, September 27, 2018
Sans titre by Pierre Ayot sold for $3,125
Pierre Ayot
Sans titre
27 1/2 x 23 3/4 in, 69.8 x 60.3 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $3,000 - $4,000 CDN
Sold for: $3,125 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Thursday, May 30, 2024
White Swan by Pierre Ayot sold for $1,250
Pierre Ayot
White Swan
18 1/4 x 21 1/8 in, 46.4 x 53.7 cm
serigraph folding
Estimate: $3,000 - $4,000 CDN
Sold for: $1,250 CDN (premium included)
Paper & Sculpture on Thursday, March 26, 2020
Dimanche matin, 3 heure A.M. (04029) by Pierre Ayot sold for $1,125
Pierre Ayot
Dimanche matin, 3 heure A.M. (04029)
26 x 23 1/2 in, 66 x 59.7 cm
silkscreen on paper
Estimate: $300 - $500 CDN
Sold for: $1,125 CDN (premium included)
Bold Abstraction on Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Sortez vos mouchoirs by Pierre Ayot sold for $875
Pierre Ayot
Sortez vos mouchoirs
66 1/2 x 22 in, 168.9 x 55.9 cm
serigraph and textile
Estimate: $1,500 - $2,500 CDN
Sold for: $875 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Thursday, May 26, 2022