The Couple 1950

Pierre Daura made this drawing with ink and watercolour, and you can see how the liquid media move across the paper. This piece embodies how the process is as important as the final product. The color palette is restrained, but it allows for a focus on the way Daura uses line. Fluid lines define the figures, but it’s the economical use of contour which really stands out. Like the single stroke which delineates the side of the face of the lower figure, or the way the eyes are merely suggested. There is a real sense of intimacy here, not just in the subject matter, but in the way the work has been made. I am reminded of the drawings of Egon Schiele, in particular the latter’s use of expressive line to convey the psychological states of his sitters. Art is a conversation, an exchange of ideas across time, which embraces ambiguity.