PIERRE PIVET  Download PDF here

The stages that lead to maturity differ from one artist to another. According to Pierre Pivet, the term "maturity" is not quite appropriate since it evokes a sense of having arrived. For Pivet, all artistic endeavour is a process of continual questioning that furthers one on the path to authenticity - the concordance of the artist's primary intention with its resulting artistic expression. Although total authenticity can never be fully attained, it serves well as an ultimate goal, one that Pierre Pivet constantly contemplates and strives for.

Initially fettered by the weight of academic instruction, Pivet managed to liberate himself from his overly rigid schooling while maintaining many of its positive elements. The great names of painting are his real teachers: his artistic endeavours have been nourished in turn by Rembrandt, Vermeer and el Greco. The rendering of light characteristic of Rembrandt, and the lively lyrical strokes of el Greco served as initial guides. He then became enraptured with Cézanne whose prescribed forms and voluminous consistency are, in their strictness and rendering, reminiscent of the Flemish masters who had previously influenced him. Next came Braque, re-orienting his conception of space and design, transformations which Gauguin and especially Matisse were no strangers to in their time.

Although we can talk about influences, Pivet's approach is more reminiscent of a collection of thoughts and sensibilities that unite creators on a level well beyond those of generation or aesthetic. The artist has been able to integrate and amalgamate diverse tendencies - the resulting images both surprise and jostle our standard references - by containing his subject matter in an intimate space that seems folded in on itself, but that also develops from the inside through the fragmentation of different images, all united by colour. In this intimate space, objects speak out in subdued light, as if whispering, as if really important things can only be uttered without being spelled out. In this way a dialog is established between personages and the objects the artist has a particular affection for. Pivet's works, which have erroneously been called examples of "still life", take on a very living expression. In addition, all Pivet's canvasses reflect a human presence, even if the beings seem absent, because the objects they contain invariably refer to the omnipresent human element. One could talk about an "absent presence" or vice versa, but Pivet does not place much importance on such distinctions - his works strive above all to capture reality in a simple and direct way. This does not, however, exclude some measure of the symbolic. In fact the artist maintains a certain distance between himself and the objects or people he represents, a distance that actually allows for a better appreciation of reality. By creating space between himself and his work he promotes his own autonomy.

Colours are of primordial importance in Pivet's work. The different chromatic tones he has retained from the Fauvist period contribute to the construction of image frames that fragment the canvass surface. Here, light assumes its full dimension and almost becomes the very breath of the work. In painting after painting we find these luminous gaps where light springs forth to caress forms and endow them with an active presence. In his recent works, light emanates directly from the forms rather than the other way around, giving the paintings an interior quality, a density of expression that go far beyond the subject matter that is evoked. Through his painting, Pivet offers us both the right and wrong sides of a reality that has yet to be grasped.

* by Jules Arbec

Born on November 26, 1948 in Normandy, France. Graduated from the Académie de PORT-ROYAL in Paris. Emigrated to Quebec in 1983. Canadian and French citizenship.

PRIZES

1982
  Selected for the Prix de Monte-Carlo

1981
  Silver medal of the Bilan de l'Art contemporain, Quebec

1979
  Grand Prix of the Académie de Port-Royal

1977
  Prix Drouant, Paris

1976
  Grand Prix Chardin

HONORARY TITLES

Associations
  Salon d'Automne, Paris
  Salon National des Beaux-Arts, Paris
  Bilan Art contemporain
  Salon de Caen

1997
  Exhibition organised by the Embassy of France in Panama with the personnal collaboration of the Ambassador, Alain Pallu de Beaupuy. Guest of honour

1993
  Nous sommes ce monde, il est notre reflet..." - Montreal, with the participation of TV5 Television, Thematic exhibition

1987
  At the Falcon Club Polo, in Cheltenham (United Kingdom), for a month-long exhibition on polo. Guest of honour

1984
  First Fall Salon in Frelighsburg, County of Missisquoi (Quebec), with the collaboration of the Bâtonnier Guy Gilbert, Guest of honour
  Exhibition "Montréal vue par les peintres de 1860 à 1984", Montreal City Hall

EXHIBITIONS

2000
  Canada Montreal, Galerie de l'Isle
  France Marseille, Galerie Asakusa

1999
  Canada Montreal, Galerie de l'Isle

1998
  Canada Quebec, Galerie L'Héritage Contemporain

1997
  Canada Montreal, Galerie de l'Isle

1996
  Panama Panama City, Habitante Art Gallery
  Canada Montreal, Galerie de l'Isle
  Canada Quebec, Galerie de l'Héritage Contemporain

1995
  USA Lansing, Dusty's English Inn
  Canada Edmonton, West End Gallery
  Canada Montreal, Galerie de l'Isle

1994
  Canada Calgary, Wallace Art Gallery
  USA Fort Lauderdale, Noblesse Oblige Gallery
  Canada Toronto, Hollander York Gallery

1993
  Canada Montreal, Galerie de l'Isle

1992
  Canada Toronto, Hollander York Gallery

1991
  Canada Montreal, Galerie de l'Isle
  Luxemburg Art Modern Gallery

1990
  Canada Toronto, Hollander York Gallery

1989
  Canada Montreal, Galerie de l'Isle

1988
  Canada Toronto, Hollander York Gallery

1986
  Canada Montreal, Galerie de l'Isle
  Switzerland Geneva, Galerie du Théâtre

1985
  Canada Montreal, Galerie de l'Isle
  Switzerland Geneva, Galerie du Théâtre

1984
  Canada Montreal, Galerie de l'Isle

1983
  France Fougères, Galerie Beffroi

1982
  Switzerland Geneva, Galerie du Théatre

1981
  France Paris, Galerie ZL

1980
  France Limoges, Galerie Municipale

1979
  Switzerland Geneva, Galerie du Théâtre

1978
  France Paris, Galerie de la Mandragore

1976
  France Paris, Galerie Chardin

1975
  France Caen, Galerie de la Girafe

1973
  USA San Francisco, Alliance Française

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2002
  France Paris, Galerie Art Comparaison

2001
  France Marseille, Galerie Asakusa

1999
  France Marseille, Galerie Asakusa

1996
  USA Key West, Caribbean Gallery

1987
  USA Palm Springs, Galerie Palm Springs
  Canada Galerie de l'Isle, Exhibition entitled "Les Artistes et la Musique"

1986
  USA Fort Lauderdale, Galerie Daniel

1981
  Canada Quebec City, Bilan Art Contemporain

1978
  France Paris, Galerie Chardin

SALONS

2000
  Art Expo, NEW YORK

1997
  Art Expo, NEW YORK
  Art Americas, Miami

1994
  Salon National des Galeries d'Art, Montréal

1991
  Salon d'Automne, Paris

1990
  Salon d'Automne, Paris

1986
  Salon National des Galeries d'Art, Montréal

1984
  Salon National des Galeries d'Art, Montréal
  Grand Salon de L'A.P.P.A.F., Paris

1975-1983
  Salon d'Automne, Paris

1979-1982
  Salon d'Issy-Les-Moulineaux

1976-1978
  Salon FIAP, Paris

1975-1977
  Salon National des Beaux-Arts, Paris

PERMANENT EXHIBITIONS

Canada
  Montreal, Galerie MX
  Calgary, Wallace Gallery
  Toronto, Harbour Gallery

France
  Paris, Galerie Art Comparaison
  Marseille, Galerie Asakusa
  Clermont Ferrand, Galerie Salvany

COLLECTIONS

Montreal
  Westcliff cie
  Steinberg
  Pratt & Whitney
  Lise Watier
  SNC Lavalin
  Guy & Gilbert
  Gaz Métropolitain
  Samson Bélair Deloitte et Touche
  Abitibi Price
  Etude Degranpré
  Gamma
  Peter Morentzos (Queue de Cheval restaurant). Complete interior and exterior decoration of Tsirco restaurant.

Numerous private collectors
USA, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, Canada, Panama, etc...