Mario Avati was born in Monaco in 1921. He studie art in Paris, where he remained for the majority of his career. By 1955, Mario Avati had achieved an international reputation with major exhibitions of his art in New York, Tokyo, London and Los Angeles. His work most often presents every day objects or animals, but with a definite influence of surrealism.

He trained first at the Nice Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, and then at the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris. Avati has been awarded several prizes : the Critics'prize, Paris 1957 ; gold medal at the first International Graphic Art Exhibition in Florence in 1969 ; City of Paris Arts prize in 1981.

Mario Avati is represented in major collections in the U. S. and abroad including the Bibliotheque National, Paris; Museum of Tokyo, Japan; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Library of Congress; the Princeton University Collection; the Rockefeller Collection and many others.