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Edward Burra
Exhibitions:

Solo Exhibitions

1929, April - Leicester Galleries, London

1932, May - Leicester Galleries, London

1937, May - Springfield Museum of Art, Massachusetts, USA

1942, November - Redfern Gallery, London

1947, June - Leicester Galleries, London

1949, July - Leicester Galleries, London

1952, March - Lefevre Gallery, London

1955, January - Magdalene Sothmann Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands (Retrospective)

1955, April - Lefevre Gallery, London

1955, April - Swetzoff Gallery, Boston, USA

1956, October - Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, USA

1957, May - Lefevre Gallery, London

1961, July - Lefevre Gallery, London

1963, April - Lefevre Gallery, London

1965, May - Lefevre Gallery, London

1967, May - Lefevre Gallery, London

1969, April - Lefevre Gallery, London

1969, October - Lefevre Gallery, London (Drawings)

1971, April - Lefevre Gallery, London

1971, July - Treadwell Gallery, London (Woodcuts 1928-9)

1971, October - Lefevre Gallery, London (The Early Years)

1971, October - Hamet Gallery, London (Drawings of 1920s and 1930s)

1973, May - Tate Gallery, London (Retrospective)

1973, May - Lefevre Gallery, London

1975, May - Lefevre Gallery, London

1977, May - Lefevre Gallery, London (Memorial Retrospective Exhibition)

1977, October - Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, and tour to Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, and Sunderland Public Library

1980, March - Lefevre Gallery, London

1980, April - Anthony D'Offay, London (Early Works)

1982, April - Lefevre Gallery, London (Paintings 1975-6)

1985, August - Hayward Gallery, London, and subsequent tour

1986 - Maria Henderson Gallery, London (Designs for the Stage)

1987, November - Lefevre Gallery, London

1993, June - Lefevre Gallery, London (Drawings from the 1920s and 1930s)

1994, December - Lefevre Gallery, London (The Formative Years)

2001, February - Spring Olympia Fine Art & Antiques Fair, London

2003, January - James Hyman Fine Art, London (Edward Burra: Stage and Cabaret)

2005, April - James Hyman Fine Art, London (Edward Burra: Real and Surreal)

2005 - Lefevre Gallery, London (A Centenary Exhibition)

2008, January - Tate Britain, London (Selection of Harlem Pictures)

2011, October - Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, and subsequent tour to Djangoly art Gallery, University of Nottingham

Principal Group Exhibitions

1927, December - New English Art Club, London

1929, October - London Group, London

1931, October - Recent Developments in British Painting, Arthur Tooth & Sons, London

1932 - British Art, Hamburg Kunstverein

1933, October - Art Now - Mayor Gallery, London

1934, April - Unit One - Mayor Gallery, London and provincial tour

1935 - Exposition international d'Art Modern - Brussels, Belgium

1936, June - International Surrealist Exhibition, New Burlington Galleries, London

1936, December - Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

1937, May - Unity of Artists for Peace, Democracy and Cultural Development, Artists International Association, London

1938, January - Exposition internationale du Surréalisme, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France

1939, July - British Painters, New York World's Fair, USA, and North American Tour

1940, June - Surrealism Today, Zwemmer Gallery, London

1951, May - Sixty Paintings for '51, Arts Council (Festival of Britain), London

1957, October - Contemporary British Art, Paris, France

1959, November - Three Contemporary English Artists (with Derrick Greaves and Hubert Dalwood), Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

1965 - The English Eye, Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York, USA, London

1978, January - Dada and Surrealism Reviewed, Hayward Gallery, London

1982, February - A Sense of Place: Edward Burra and Paul Nash, Grey Art Gallery, New York, USA

1987 - British Art in the Twentieth Century, Royal Academy of Art, London

1997 - Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance, Hayward Gallery, London

2001, February - Watercolour, Tate Britain, London

Ballet, Opera and Theatre Productions designed by Edward Burra

A Day in a Southern Port (Rio Grande), Camargo Society, Savoy Theatre, London, 29 November 1931

Barbarau, Vic-Wells Ballet, Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, 17 April 1936

Miracle in the Gorbals, Sadler's Wells Ball, Princes Theatre, London, 26 October 1944

Carmen, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 14 January 1947

Don Juan, Sadler's Wells Ballet, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 25 November 1948

Don Quixote, Sadler's Wells Ballet, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 20 February 1950

Canterbury Prologue, (The Ballet was previewed under the title Surprise Ballet, Royal Hall, Harrogate, 19 July 1951), Ballet Rambert, Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, 30 July 1951; King's Theatre, Hammersmith, London, 15 October 1951

Simply Heavenly, Adelphi Theatre, London, 20 May 1958

Books Illustrated by Edward Burra

Lee, Laurie,The Voyage of Magellan: A Dramatic Chronicle for Radio, John Lehmann Ltd, London, 1948

The Oxford Illustrated Old Testament: With Drawings by Contemporary Artists. Authorized King James Version of 1611, Oxford University Press, London, 1968 (Burra illustrated 'The Book of Judith')

Poe, Edgar Allen, The Tell-Tale Heart, John Lehmann Ltd, London, 1948

Ramuz, C.F., The Triumph of Death, Routledge, London, 1946

Twain, Mark, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Paul Elek (Camden Classics), London, 1948

Wolfe, Humbert, ABC of the Theatre, Cresset Press, London, 1932

Chronology/Biography
Early Years and Education

Burra was born on 29 March 1905 at his grandmother's house in Elvaston Place, London to Henry Curteis Burra, J.P. and Ermentrude Anne (née Robinson Luxford),[2] (married). His father was a barrister and later Chaiman of East Sussex County Council. Edward attended preparatory school (Northaw Place, Potters Bar, Herts) but in 1917 suffered from pneumonia and had to be withdrawn from school and home-educated. Burra took art classes with Miss Bradley in Rye in 1921, studied at Chelsea School of Art in 1921–3, and from 1923–5 at the Royal College of Art under drawing tutors Randolph Schwabe and Raymond Coxon. In 1925, while travelling in Italy, Burra suffered with rheumatic fever (March 1925); met Paul Nash (summer 1925); visited Paris with William Chappell (October 1925). In 1926, Burra travelled with his family to visit his sister in Florence, Italy, and also visited Siena and Paris. In 1927, he visited Paris with Lucy Norton and Sophie Fedorovitch, who painted his portrait (this was lost). Burra was introduced to Oliver Brown of the Leicester Galleries in August 1927; in September-October, Burra and Chappell travelled to the south of France; in December, Burra exhibited at the New English Art Club. Paul Nash offered to teach Burra wood engraving in February 1928; Burra was commissioned by Crawfords to design vehicle advertising signs (which were rejected) in May 1928. Burra visited Toulon with Chappell, Irene Hodgkins, Barbara Ker-Seymer, Brian Howard and Anthony Powell. From October-December 1928, he stayed in Partis with Chappell, Fedorovitch, Frederick Ashton, Cedric Morris, Arthur Lett-Haines, Arthur Mahoney and John Banting. Burra visited dance halls and music halls on the rue de Lappe.

1929-1938

Burra's first solo show was held at the Leicester Galleries in 1929. In May 1929, he visited Paris with Chappell, Ashton, Fedorovitch, Mahoney and Birgit Batholin. His sister Betsy died of meningitis in August 1929. He visited Scotland with his mother in September 1929. In October 1929, Burra exhibited with the London Group; woodblock prints were shown at the Society of Wood-Engravers exhibition at the Redfern Gallery in London. In January 1930, he began to make collages with Paul Nash. Later that year, he travelled with Paul and Margaret Nash to Paris and the South of France. In October 1931, he exhibited in Recent Developments in British Painting (with John Armstrong, Paul Nash, Edward Wadsworth and Ben Nicholson) at Arthur Tooth & Sons, London. Ashton's ballet A Day in a Southern Port (Rio Grande) opened at the Savoy, London in November 1931 with sets and costumes by Burra. He was a member of Unit One in 1933 and showed with the English Surrealists later in the 1930s.

1939-1976

Burra travelled widely, and many influences are at play in his works, which were usually watercolour on a large scale in strong colours. During World War Two, when it became impossible to travel, he also became involved in designing scenery and costumes for ballet, opera and theatre (see list below, including Miracle in the Gorbals) and became very successful in that field.

From 1950 until his death, Burra held a show every two years at the Lefevre Gallery[3] (see list of Exhibitions up to 2011 below).

Burra declined associate membership of the Royal Academy in 1963.[4] He accepted a CBE in 1971.[4] The Tate Gallery held a retrospective of his work in 1973. In conjunction with the exhibition at Tate, the Arts Council of Great Britain produced a documentary about the life and work of the artist, Edward Burra.[5] All the footage of the interview with Burra conducted for this film was assembled into a documentary in 1981, The Burra Interview.[6] In this interview, Burra avers that "Nothing matters." He praises Yorkshire because "it's nice and bare".[6]

After breaking his hip in 1974, his health declined sharply and he died in Hastings in 1976. The Tate Gallery Archive holds considerable materials relating to Burra, including his letters.[7]