London, Lefevre Gallery, Edward Burra The Early Years (1923-1950), October 1971 (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, no. 32);
Bristol, Royal West of England Academy, Drawing On, 21 March – 7 June 2015;
Woking, The Lightbox, The Road to Abstraction, 21 May – 24 July 2016
Edward Burra was a great observer and chronicler of twentieth century life. His body was disabled by chronic arthritis and his energy was periodically diminished by anaemia. Burra continued to live in the family home in Rye until the death of his mother in 1968. He nevertheless made regular forays into the world, determinedly escaping the respectability and conventionality of life at home, to seek out the avant-garde in London, Paris and further afield. He had an extraordinary eye for detail, and with great care and fascination he documented the characters and scenes he saw in cafés and dockside bars, the music-hall and the ballet, filtering them all through his own entirely idiosyncratic vision.
