Street Scene, 1930s circa
Painter in watercolour (frequently on a large scale) of sardonic genre and of scenes of violence and destruction; also landscapes and still life, often with macabre overtones. Burra was born on 29 March 1905 in South Kensington, London. He studied at Chelsea School of Art 1921-3 and the R.C.A. 1923-4. His first one-man exhibition was at the Leicester Galleries in 1929; he was a member of Unit One 1933, and exhibited with the English Surrealists 1936 and 1938. Burra travelled in Europe, the U.S.A. and Mexico and made designs for the Camargo Society's ballet Rio Grande 1931 and for several Sadler's Wells and Covent Garden productions. A.R.A. 1963.
