THE A. PIROIR STUDIO-GALLERY IS A PRINTMAKING STUDIO, PUBLISHER, AND EXHIBITION SPACE SPECIALIZED IN FINE ART PRINTS.

Unique venue

We are pleased to present the Atelier-Galerie A. Piroir. Since 1975, we have been an intaglio printer, publisher of prints and artist’s books, and print media gallery owners. Two generations of printers work together at the studio. Alain Piroirʳᶜᵃ has passed on the love for the trade to his daughter Agatheʳᶜᵃ, who, after having worked on her own, joined her father in 2006. We are proud to provide Montrealers with a venue to enjoy print media. The gallery is giving the public an exceptional opportunity to explore contemporary printmaking in its creative context. The exhibitions are presented alongside presses in the studio, where the public will be able to watch the printers and artists at work. Art lovers will be able to see the creation of a print from start to finish.

As printers, our goal is to work collaboratively with artists who challenge our skills. Our practice involves advising, assisting and helping them produce their works, which requires an in-depth dialogue with them and an ability to creatively address the technical challenges of their art. We also endeavour to disseminate the creations of our artists. Our gallery’s mission is to exhibit print media by artists who have a contemporary approach. Our commitment has culminated in a partnership with the Biennale internationale d’estampe contemporaine de Trois-Rivières, where the Prix Atelier-Galerie A. Piroir is awarded. Drawing on more than 48 years’ experience, our unique approach has earned us a reputation as print media experts.

GALLERY

The gallery’s mandate is to promote current print media artists and to bring their work to the general public.

Commited to promoting emerging artists and established artists, the gallery aims to present engaging exhibitions that attest to the great vitality and diversity that exists within all printmaking disciplines.

Gallery hours: Tuesday-Friday, 12:00-6:00 or by appointment on Saturday and during workshop hours.

Printmaking demonstrations now available

Atelier-Galerie A. Piroir now offers printmaking demonstrations and introductory workshops through.

During this two-hour experience, participants discover major printmaking techniques through live demonstrations, historical explanations, and hands-on activities in a historic printmaking studio located in Montreal’s Mile End district.

The experience includes:

• an introduction to typography, linocut, and woodcut printing;

• a live demonstration of intaglio techniques including drypoint, etching, aquatint, engraving, and mezzotint;

• a hands-on drypoint activity;

• an introduction to lithography, photogravure, and photo-based printmaking processes.

Participants discover traditional tools, presses, and the different stages involved in creating an original print in a lively and accessible environment.

restoration

For many years, Atelier-Galerie A. Piroir has specialized in the restoration and conservation of prints. Each treatment is carried out with great respect for the integrity of the artwork, the original techniques, and the artist’s intent.

The example above presents a Picasso print before and after restoration. The treatment aimed to stabilize the paper, reduce visible damage, and restore greater clarity to the image while preserving the original character of the work.

An indicative pricing guide is available to provide an overview of restoration costs based on the size and condition of the artworks.

Heward Printmaker

Exhibition from Tuesday, July 7 to Saturday, August 29, 2026

Opening reception Thursday, July 9 at 5:30 p.m.

Heward Printmaker

John Heward (1934-2018) was an exceptional painter, sculptor, poet and musician. He was equally a consummate printmaker. Here we celebrate the corpus of intaglio prints that, beginning in the early 1990s, he produced in collaboration with his colleague and friend Paul Machnik, working in Paul’s Studio PM in Montréal.

Paul has likened how John and he interacted in the studio to how musicians riff off one another in a jam session. Such a partnership was fully compatible to John, who thrived on spontaneity and free experimentation and revelled in unexpected results.

Heward’s prints at first glance may seem to be almost nothing – haphazard residues of blobs and marks, noisy plate tones and messy edges - invested in neither tidiness nor technical finesses. But then, look, just when we register their tentativeness, each print takes on a distinctive stance and an evocative bearing. It may be abstract, or elsewhere: out of a scribbly head, emerge the saddest of downcast eyes.  Then there is the physical presence of the prints: not only their heavy paper, not just the deep impressions of the steel plates, but also the heft of Heward’s markings. Heward’s nonchalance redefines itself as a powerful expressive force.

Roal Nasgaard.