Digging Daura: Christmas Cards

Above: “Making Your Own Christmas Cards No Lost Art Here” from The News, Lynchburg, VA, Sunday Morning, December 14, 1952, section IV, p. 1

As promised in previous “Digging Daura” posts, I’m sharing more images this week, and holiday-themed ones at that. This installment showcases some of the Daura family Christmas cards in the embedded slideshow below.



We are fortunate to have an explanation of the history of these cards from the artist’s daughter, Martha Daura:

Christmas Cards 1930-76

The Daura Christmas/New Year card tradition began with the 1930-31 (Dec. 1930 – Jan. 1931) holiday season after Pierre and Louise moved from Paris to St. Cirq-Lapopie in July 1930. From that season through the 1938-39 season, while Pierre lived in France, with one exception, the “cards” were original engravings or block prints produced by Pierre in limited editions as gifts for family and friends. It is unlikely that prints were made for either the 1934-35 season when Pierre was in Virginia, or the 1937-38 season before Pierre had recovered from his Spanish Civil War wounds. The only information available regarding prints made while Pierre lived in France is from the plates, blocks or prints in the GMOA collection, and inventories. The exception card referred to above was a commercial reprint of an oil painting. From the 1939-40 season until Pierre’s death in 1976, the cards were commercial reprints of original works, usually drawings. They were printed in fairly large editions.