suggested through fragmentary shards and shattered planesthat capture the dynamism of multiple viewpoints andbreakdown of one-point-perspective.Daura’s Virginia landscapes exhibit a lighter and morefluid palette that takes full advantage of the medium ofwatercolor on paper, an overall effect that carries throughinto the artist’s paintings in oil on canvas. In the imageMohler Farm in Snow, Rockbridge Baths of 1941, the bluesof tin-roofed sheds and distant mountains contrast with thepinks of an evening sky that is reflected in snow-coveredhills. Where the wintry snowfall has begun to melt, amuddy patch of greenish grass is visible in the foreground.In contrast, the watercolor on paper entitled Mohler Barn,Rockbridge Baths of 1955-1970 revels in the varied greensof dense summer foliage punctuated by the golden brownsof dusty rural dirt roads and aging barn siding. In autumnscenes, vibrant colors – burnt reds, citrus oranges, canaryyellows, brilliant golds – intermix with green pasturesand blue skies to create the most exuberant and skillfulchromatic explorations of Daura’s oeuvre. Each separatebrushstroke of vividly colored pigment is clearly evident,and the viewer’s gaze can easily trace the process of theartist putting watercolor-laden brush to paper. Every daubof pigment takes on a separate and independent existence.Among the most abstracted landscapes on view, Mabry Millof 1955-1970 presents a fireworks-like display of boisterouscolor in which pigments visually dance and play across thepaper’s surface. Here, color breaks free and blends togetherin a joyful and exuberant rendition of the fall season’sbeauty.32Top: Children in the Old Village, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, ca. 1958Oil on canvasTaubman Museum of ArtGift of Martha Randolph Daura, 2003.020Bottom: Mohler Barn, Rockbridge Baths, 1955-1970Watercolor on paperDaura Museum of Art, University of LynchburgGift of Martha R. DauraRight: Mohler Farm in Snow, Rockbridge Baths (detail) , 1941Tempera on paperTaubman Museum of ArtGift of Martha Randolph Daura, 2003.051
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