This is one of my favourite paintings from the current Edward Burra exhibition on at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, West Sussex. Burra is another of those artists whose work I have known since I was young. Some pieces I have been attracted to, but others have left me cold. Always, however, I was struck by his clear - piercing, even - un-hypocritical gaze and his draftsmanship.
I don't remember where I first encountered the paintings - perhaps they were already in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland. A hazy memory of where, when, and how, but a definite combined memory of like and dislike remained until I recently came across his glorious large painting of Northumbrian countryside in the Tate Watercolour exhibition, and also reacquainted myself with The Snack Bar in Tate Britain.
I cannot remember at what point Jane Stevenson's biography came to my attention, but seeing that Pallant House were about to have a decent exhibition of his work jogged my elbow, and I am currently reading Edward Burra: Twentieth Century Eye. How appropriate that description! He does cover so much of what was going on, especially from the 20s and 30s onwards. He was sharp and witty, a curious and detailed observer who just loved to comment - not only in paint, as I have discovered from reading so many extracts from his letters.
The gallery has put together an excellent collection of reviews which describe Burra's work and the exhibition far better than I could. I still have an ambivalent attraction to the work, but it is so much more informed, and I still have my memory of the paintings, and the second half of an excellent biography to read, and so much to think about.
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