From Spain to Virginia The Life and Times of Pierre Daura - Catalog - Page 9
FOREWORD
art in Paris, and the two were married in 1928. They fell
in love with the cliffside medieval village of Saint-CirqLapopie while honeymooning and purchased a run-down
thirteenth-century house there; this house would become
their summer residence for most of their lives. Alternately,
they also called Rockbridge Baths home, as Louise returned
to her Virginia roots and brought her beloved Pierre and
their only daughter, Martha, to make America their home as
well.
Cindy M. Petersen, Ed.M.
The Taubman Museum of Art is pleased and honored
to present From Spain to Virginia: The Art and Times
of Pierre Daura. This is an especially meaningful and
personal exhibition in that it not only showcases works from
renowned Catalan artist Pierre Daura (1896-1976), but, as
the exhibition name implies, it provides a strong regional
focus as well, examining works from the many years Daura
spent in Rockbridge Baths, just an hour’s drive north of the
Museum.
From Spain to Virginia features 34 of Daura’s most
engaging works, including stellar examples of some of the
artist’s finest work in still life, abstract, portraiture, and
landscape. About half are from among 46 Daura works that
were generously gifted to our Museum by Daura’s daughter,
Martha Randolph Daura, in 2003. The show also features
works on loan from Suzanne Blair, Robert and Misa Stuart,
Daura Museum of Art at the University of Lynchburg,
Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University and
Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia, which,
with 600 Daura paintings, prints, drawings, and sculptures,
6
Daura’s love affair with Saint-Cirq-Lapopie can be seen
throughout this exhibition in his vibrant interpretations
of its steep, winding cobblestone streets and terra cotta
rooftops, all overlooked by a majestic fortified sixteenthcentury church in the town center atop the cliff. Although
equally as passionate in his love for Virginia, his touch in
his paintings of Rockbridge was lighter. Whereas both eras
reflect his European training and fundamental grounding
in abstraction, his earlier landscapes in France have a more
overtly cubist influence, with heavier paints and colors,
while his Virginia landscapes demonstrate greater ease and
facility with a lighter palette. Indeed, combining his French
works with those from Virginia provide the satisfying fusion
of calmness, inspiration, and excitement we were seeking to
project through this show.
makes the Georgia Museum of Art the largest repository of
Daura’s oeuvre.
This exhibition seems particularly timely in light of the
global unrest all are experiencing due to the COVID-19
pandemic. As I began mining our collection last spring, I
was in particular looking for works that would be all at once
calming and inspiring, while also exciting to the viewer.
With more than 2,200 objects in the Museum’s permanent
collection, there were many artists whose pieces stirred the
feelings I was seeking – calmness and inspiration, both of
which are much needed emotions during a pandemic, and
also excitement, as excitement promotes feelings of hope
and brighter days ahead. I soon became convinced that this
would have to be a Pierre Daura solo exhibition.
While Daura was born in Menorca, Spain, and spent his
youth in Barcelona, we see reflections from Saint-CirqLapopie, France, and also from the Rockbridge Baths area
of Virginia. It was Louise Heron Blair, a young woman from
Richmond, who caught Daura’s eye when she was studying
Autumn Tree, Rockbridge Baths, 1955-1970
Watercolor on paper
Taubman Museum of Art
Gift of Martha Randolph Daura, 2003.050
This exhibition is curated by the Georgia Museum of Art
at the University of Georgia. Along with the rest of the
Taubman Museum of Art’s resilient, dedicated, and talented
staff and Board of Trustees, I would like to express heartfelt
gratitude to our colleagues at the Georgia Museum of Art
7
