Edward Burra was born in London in 1905. He briefly attended boarding school but when he caught pneumonia in 1917 he was sent home to Rye and his formal education came to an end. Burra's education continued at home where he was surrounded by books. The Burra household was highly cultivated and arty and Burra was encouraged to read and draw. Between 1921 and 1923 Burra attended the Chelsea Polytechnic where he studied life-drawing, illustration and architectural drawing. It was here that Burra developed an interest in jazz and the cinema and made friends that he would keep for the rest of his life. This was followed by two years at the Royal College of Art between 1923-1925.
Burra travelled extensively during his lifetime spending time in Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, North and Central America and Ireland. In 1925 Burra met Paul Nash who encouraged him to exhibit his work and taught him wood engraving and collage making. Paul Nash exposed Burra to surrealism which captivated him and while he did dabble in the movement and was briefly a member of Unit One Burra was never whole-heartedly part of any artistic group. Burra also designed costumes and sets for theatre and opera productions particularly during the war years when travel was more difficult.
One-man exhibitions
April 1929 - Leicester Galleries
May 1932 - Leicester Galleries
May 1937 - Springfield Museum of Art, Massachusettes
November 1942 - Redfern Gallery
July 1947 - Leicester Galleries
March 1952 - Lefevre Gallery
January 1955 - Magdalene Sothman Gallery, Amsterdam (retrospective)
April 1955 - Lefevre Gallery
April 1955 - Swetzoff Gallery, Boston
October 1956 - Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence
May 1957 - Lefevre Gallery
July 1961 - Lefevre Gallery
April 1963 - Lefevre Gallery
May 1965 - Lefevre Gallery
May 1967 - Lefevre Gallery
April 1969 - Lefevre Gallery
October 1969 - Lefevre Gallery (drawings)
April 1971 - Lefevre Gallery
July 1971 - Treadwell Gallery (woodcuts 1928-9)
October 1971 - Lefevre Gallery (The Early Years)
October 1971 - Hamet Gallery (Drawings of 1920s & 1930s)
May 1973 - Tate Gallery (Retrospective)
May 1973 - Lefevre Gallery
May 1975 - Lefevre Gallery
May 1977 - Lefevre Gallery (Memorial Retrospective Exhibition)
October 1977 - Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffied and Sunderland Public Library
March-May 1980 - Lefevre Gallery
April 1980 - Anthony d'Offay (Early Works)
April 1982 - Lefevre Gallery (paintings 1975-6)
August-September 1985 - Hayward Gallery
November-December 1987 - Lefevre Gallery
June-July 1993 - Lefevre Gallery (Drawings from the 1920s and 1930s)
December 1994 - Lefevre Gallery (The Formative Years)
February-March 2001 - Spring Olympia Fine Art & Antiques Fair
December 2005 - Lefevre Fine Art (A Centenary Exhibition)
January - May 2008 - Tate Britain (a selection of Harlem pictures shown)
October 2011 - February 2012 - Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
Bedford, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery6
Belfast, Ulster Museum
Bury, Art Gallery
Dundee Art Gallery
Eastbourne, Tower Art Gallery
Edinburgh, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Gloucester Art Gallery
Hove Art Gallery
Huddersfield Art Gallery
Leeds City Art Gallery
London, Arts Council of Great Britain
London, British Council
London, British Museum
London, Imprerial War Museum
London, Tate Britain
London, Victoria and Albert Museum
University of Manchester, Whitworth Art Gallery
Nottingham, Castle Museum
Portsmouth Art Gallery
Rye Art Gallery
Southampton Art Gallery
York City Art Gallery
ABROAD
Adelaide, National Art Gallery of South Australia
Fredericton, News Brunswick, Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria
New York, Museum of Modern Art
Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada
Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Wellington, National Art Gallery of New Zealand