Artists often paint the same thing many times. French impressionist Claude Monet famously painted 250 images of water lilies. Elaine de Kooning painted different versions of a statue (you can see #81 at the museum).
This Family Day To-Go focuses on another artist who painted the same thing many times: Pierre Daura (1896 – 1976). Pierre and his American wife, Louise Blair, fell in love with a medieval village in France. The village is called Saint-Cirq-Lapopie. They lived there for many years. They even spent summers there after moving to the US. Can you find it on the map of France on page three?
Pierre and Louise especially loved the terracotta roofs of the village. They are made of a type of clay shingle. Compare the roofs in the photograph with the roofs in Daura’s paintings.
Sign up for tickets to visit this exhibition on our website.
“André Breton’s house from Daura’s window, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie #1 – 4,” 1955 – 70. Watercolor on off-white paper, 10 3/4 × 9 3/4 inches each. Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields; Gift of Martha Randolph Daura. 2000.204 – 7.
One subject Daura painted many times was the house of his friend André Breton. Daura could see Breton’s house from his window in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
Look carefully at these four paintings. Can you tell that each painting is the same subject from the same view, or perspective? How are they similar? How are they different?
Notice how Daura made different types of marks on the paper in each painting. The way an artist makes a mark or the kind of paintbrush they use is a very important part of making a painting look a certain way.
How many different kinds of marks can you find? Imagine the different types of brushes Daura used to make these marks. Were they thick or thin? Flat or round? How do you think he moved his hand when he painted these marks? Slow and smooth, or fast and jerky?
This view of his friend’s house was one of Daura’s favorite things to paint. Do you have a favorite place or thing you’d like to paint?
Now it is your turn to look, paint and repeat!
You will need the following supplies, included in the art kit (or found at home):
- 4 sheets of watercolor paper
- watercolor paints
- 4 different paintbrushes
- a cup of water
- newspaper or kraft paper
Art Activity:
- Find a favorite view from a window or a few of your favorite things to arrange in an interesting way. This will be your view for all four of your paintings.
- Place newspaper or kraft paper under your work area to make clean-up easier.
- For your first painting, use a small brush. Experiment with different types of lines to paint the view you see. Try making straight lines, curved lines, squiggles and zigzags.
- For your second painting, use a round brush. Paint your view using dots. Use light pressure and just the tip of your brush, or hard pressure and more of the brush, to make different types of dots.
- Phew! Feel free to take a break. You do not have to create all four paintings in one sitting or even in one day.
- For your third painting, use a sponge or flat brush. Paint your view using big and small blocks of color. Experiment with the amount of water you use based on what you want the paint to look like. More water makes thinner paint, less water makes thicker paint.
- For your final painting use all your brushes and combine the different techniques that you have learned through experimentation.
- When your paintings are dry, compare them and look for similarities and differences.
Tip: You do not have to fill the entire paper with color. Notice how the cream-colored paper shows through in Daura’s paintings. What you do not paint is just as important as what you do paint.