Pierre Daura: Fifty Fifty

June 16 – October 7, 2018

Catalan American artist Pierre Daura (1896-1976) was born on the island of Minorca, Spain, in 1896. He and his family moved to Barcelona when he was young, and he spent much of the 1920s in Paris. As a result, artistically he came of age alongside some of the most significant members of the European avant-garde, including Joaquín Torres-Garcia and Michel Seuphor, with whom he founded the modernist group Cercle et Carré.

When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1937, Daura returned to Spain to fight with the Republican army against Franco’s forces. He was injured during the war and went back to France to recuperate. With the onset of World War II, Daura, his wife, and daughter sought refuge in the United States, where they settled in Virginia.

In celebration of a major gift of paintings and prints by the artist’s daughter, Martha R. Daura, and in conjunction with the exhibition Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art, this exhibition of works from BAM’s Permanent Collection examines Daura’s varied approach to art making and investigates his storied life in Spain, France, and the United States. He was a prolific artist, and one not easily categorized, because he was equally interested in realism and abstraction. Pierre Daura: Fifty Fifty resituates Daura as an influential twentieth-century artist and highlights his creative range by showing works in several styles and media.

Organized by the Boise Art Museum

IMAGE: Pierre Daura, The Three Kings, 1945-65, oil on cardboard, 15 ¾” x 12″, Gift of Martha R. Daura, Boise Art Museum Permanent Collection

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