02 Works, The Art of War, Maxwell, Edward Burra's Wake and Soldiers at Rye, with footnotes

Edward Burra 1905–1976

Soldiers at Rye, c. 1941

Gouache, watercolour and ink on paper

1022 × 2070 mm

Tate

Rye, a picturesque town near the south coast of England, was Burra’s life-long home. During the war it became a centre for military activity. Soldiers are turned into nightmarish birdmen, recalling the Surrealist paintings of German artist Max Ernst. Burra was also interested in sixteenth-century English poetry. The bright colours and stylised dress of the soldiers might suggest courtly combat. Such ideas of brutality and heroism are offset by an emphasis of the figures’ musculature, introducing a sexual tension to the scene.  More on this painting

Edward Burra 1905–1976

Detail; Wake

Gouache and watercolour on paper

1022 × 698 mm

Tate

With the increasingly belligerent political situation of the 1930s, Burra's work took on a darker tone. This enigmatic diptych seems to speak of morbidity and decay. The shrouded figures look down on a skeleton in an open grave. In the background broken columns indicate the degradation of the building. The architecture recalls the destroyed churches that Burra photographed in Spain in 1935 and 1936.  More on this painting

Edward Burra was a watercolourist, draughtsman, printmaker and designer.

He was born of wealthy parents in [?] South Kensington, London. Because of illness (he was crippled with arthritis throughout his life) he had little formal education but from the age of 14 was able to concentrate on drawing. He studied at the Chelsea School of Art, 1921-3 and at the Royal College of Art 1923-4. His first one-man exhibition was at the Leicester Galleries in 1929; member of Unit One, 1933 and exhibited with the English Surrealists in 1936 and 1938. Inspite of ill health he travelled extensively in Europe, USA and Mexico. He also designed for the stage, with sets for the Camargo Society's ballet 'Rio Grande' 1931 and for Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells productions including 'Miracle of the Gorbals'. ARA 1963. CBE 1971. A retrospective exhibition held at the Tate Gallery in 1973. He lived near Rye, Sussex and died in Hastings in 1976. More on Edward Burra

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