Say Happy New Year to the Durango Arts Center. And while you are at it, shout out “Welcome back” to the Barbara Conrad Gallery.
At last, DAC has finally decluttered, repainted and returned its main gallery space to its original purpose. “The Joys of Painting as a Pastime,” works by Leonard Davies, offers a welcome revitalization. Gone are the recycled restaurant booths, the upright piano, tchotchkes for sale and stashes of craft projects piled into corners. Once again, the gallery is a quiet and clean space to contemplate art.
Wisely, DAC has chosen to showcase the works of one painter, retired civil rights attorney Leonard Davies. Like thousands of aspiring amateur artists, Davies has updated a 19th-century practice that changed art history. The simple business of taking a portable easel, palette and brushes into the countryside sparked an activity known as en plein air (outdoor painting). In turn, the practice gave birth to the revolutionary movement known as Impressionism.
If you go
WHAT: “The Joys of Painting as a Pastime,” works by Leonard Davies.
WHERE: Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave.
WHEN: Through Feb. 28. Hours: noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday.
ADMISSION: Free.
SPECIAL EVENT: A conversation with the artist: 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 29.
MORE INFORMATION: Call 259-2606 or visit www.durangoarts.org.
Before that major shift, landscape painters made ink sketches, returned to the studio, reworked the sketches and then created large works following established conventions. The cumbersome work of grinding pigment and mixing oil paints served to transform drawings into large, finished works, often with mythical, literary or religious figures.
After a simple 1841 invention by American artist and inventor John Rand, pre-mixed oil paints in small tin tubes transformed artistic practice. Painters could now go outdoors and capture their impressions of nature – on the spot. By the 1870s, French Impressionists cast aside overworked studio landscapes for bright, spontaneously realized paintings that pulsated with color and light. Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Camille Pissarro invented the technique of broken color, which advanced the sense of immediacy. Then and now, amateur plein air painters like Davies have opted for direct impressionism. Some use the broken color technique. Davies opts for bold, gutsy, big brushes.
Davies brings a sense of immediacy to his landscapes in his own way. Time of day, weather conditions, light and shadow all play a significant role. Among the most successful are “Canyon del Muerto,” where deep shadows anchor a dramatic landscape. “Near Antonita NM” is a beautifully realized river scene where the composition emphasizes fore, middle and background elements. A shimmer of warm color in the water reveals how carefully Davies observes his surroundings.
“Ranch near Mancos” is one of the few paintings with human presence. A minuscule touch of red draws attention to a roof and human habitation. That one element changes the atmosphere and domesticates the landscape.
In “La Plata Mountain,” Davies gambles with conventions. He takes a compositional leap by setting a high horizon line and fills the lower half with a block of white – a snowbank. The mountain stretches up to the top edge, creating a tension that may have been deliberate or accidental.
What happens at the edges is crucial in landscape painting. If a cloud or mountain peak presses the top edge, there’s tension. If framing cuts into the image, that’s a problem. That happens in another beautiful work: “Large Mesa.” Double focal points, mesa and clouds, convey high drama. The unfortunate top crop may seem a minor point, but some air and space would have intensified, not cramped the effect.
Davies will elaborate on his practice from 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 29, in the beautiful, newly reimagined Barbara Conrad Gallery at DAC.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
