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Léo
Ayotte se classe parmi nos plus grands peintres québécois. Déjà dans
les années ’60, François Hertel, de l’Académie Canadienne-francaise
et Directeur de Rythmes et Couleurs (Paris), écrivait à son sujet :
«De
tous les peintres connus, Léo Ayotte est un de ceux qui ont su le
mieux rendre le paysage canadien. Il demeure fidèle à la lumière
de son pays natal.
Ce
peintre-né transporte sur sa palette les coloris typiquement
canadiens dont il est un des meilleurs exécutants.
Son
œuvre universalise un coin donné du monde : son pays, le Canada.
Peintre traditionaliste? Non.
Son
œuvre est largement transposée sur le plan d’un impressionnisme qui
lui appartient en propre.
Léo
Ayotte , ce peintre montréalais ne en 1909 en Mauricie est décédé a
Saint-Hyacinthe en 1976..
Leo Ayotte
(October 10, 1909 in Sainte-Flore, Mauricie, Quebec - 1976) was an
oil painter and artist.
Born in a family
of modest means, he began his studies at the College Séraphique and
at Trois-Rivières Seminary, and finally, in Nicolet. He abandoned
his studies at the end of his rhetoric and began to compose poems
and paint.
In 1938, Ayotte
moved to Montreal and worked as a model at the School of Fine Arts
and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Not being registered, Ayotte
could not follow the lessons, but his work there as a model and as a
janitor allowed him to listen in on classes. Without money, he also
picked up the half-empty tubes left by careless students and used
them to paint. The director Maillard told him later after he saw one
of his paintings: "You are my best student."
Through his art
career and lectures, Ayott was able to save enough money to fulfil
his dream of visiting France. In July 1962, he went to visit the
Louvre Museum, which moved him to tears. He visited his friend
François Hertel and Robert Roussil, a sculptor, and the painter Jean
Dallaire. He ended his trip on the French Riviera where he spent a
lot of time painting with his niece, Louise-Helene Ayotte, who has
just been awarded the Consul of France at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
After a year in
France, he returned to Canada, where he participated in numerous
exhibitions throughout Quebec until 1975. Suffering from cancer, he
was transported on December 18, 1976 to the Hospital of
Saint-Hyacinthe where he died three days later on December 21, 1976.
Ayotte began
writing and doing landscape sketches at an early age. His love of
nature brought him to painting. Mostly self taught, he had a unique
style. Ayotte often used a single brush to achieve a work. From a
single stroke and with spontaneity Ayotte always achieved a
successful painting with his first attempt, never having to make
corrections or touch-ups.Except for his portraits, he painted
without preliminary drawings, taking the time to make observations
before starting to paint. The bold and lively colors that emerged
from his brush captured the essence of his subjects. His colorful
landscapes are real hymns to nature. His still lifes and portraits,
charged with emotion, led him to be considered a major artist in
Quebec. |
