Edward Burra

Acquired by Hugh Blaker August 1927 for £15
Mr Yates 1929 
Acquired by Wilfrid A. Evill December 1946 for £47.5.0, by whom bequeathed to Honor Frost in 1963

London, The Home of Wilfrid A. Evill, Contemporary Art Society, Catalogue of Part of a Collection of Oil Paintings, Water Colours, Drawings and Sculpture Belonging to W. A. Evill, Esq., December 1947 - February 1948, cat. no.24 (as Figures in South of France);
Hampstead, The Home of Wilfrid A. Evill, Contemporary Art Society, Catalogue of the Greater Portion of a Collection of Modern English Paintings, Water Colours, Drawings and Sculpture Belonging to W. A. Evill, March 1955, cat. no.50;
London, The Home of Wilfrid A. Evill, Contemporary Art Society, Pictures, Drawings, Water Colours and Sculpture, April - May 1961, (part III- section 2), cat. no.32;
Brighton, Brighton Art Gallery, The Wilfrid Evill Memorial Exhibition, June - August 1965, cat. no.15.

Bernard Denvir, 'Art Collectors and their Collections: 2. W.A.Evill',The Studio, vol.137 no.671, February 1949, illustrated p.46.

The sheet is sound, has not been laid down and is undulating across the surface. The work is adhered to the mount by a strip of tape along the top edge. There is a very faint very slight diagonal line of possible minor abrasion near the centre of the left edge. There is a tiny speck of abrasions to the dark green pigment near the right edge in the lower right quadrant. Just to the left of this there is a light brown media mark. Otherwise the work is in excellent original condition with strong colours throughout. Held under glass in a gilt wood frame with a cream mount. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

'I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of one or 2 demoiselles de haute monde? or as good as haute monde... the native population are too beautiful and wear such exotic garments speshly the men I saw some most exotic shirts with Kubismus decoration all over them...'
(Edward Burra, 1925, writing about Bordighera in a letter to William Chappell, quoted in W. Chappell, ed., Well Dearie! The Letters of Edward Burra, Gordon Fraser, London, 1985, p.16).

Burra's first trip to the Mediterranean coast was to Bordighera on the Italian Riviera with his mother in 1925. The trip was supposed to be a restorative one for Burra, but sadly, he developed a severe rheumatic fever and had to rush home. His ill health did not, however, prevent his artistic eye and fervent imagination from responding to the eclectic crowds and the 'demoiselles de haute monde' he saw promenading around the town. Ladies on the Riviera clearly stems from this experience which sparked an on-going and urgent fascination to visit the port towns along the French Riviera.

Significantly, it is due to the sale of the present work that Burra was finally able to afford to travel to the Southern French ports. In 1927, he sold Ladies on the Riviera along with two other works to Hugh Blaker and earlier that year, Blaker even saw the present work in an earlier state, writing to Burra in April 1927, 'if I may advise do stick to the earlier manner until you are quite sure of the more free technique ... can I have the "blue" composition, with girls, un-finished? Same price?' (TGA 939.2.4). In August later that year, Burra wrote excitedly to Birdie Rushbury, ' I took my drawings to the Leicester Galleries having been introduced by dear Mr Blaker who has bought 2 water colour paintings for 15£ each and a jolly selbsbildnis in oils for £10, such a treat I think. I think of going to Toulon Nice Valencure Cassis Cannes and Marsailles [sic]...' (quoted in Jane Stevenson, Edward Burra: Twentieth Century Eye, Jonathan Cape, London 2007, p.151). Burra visited the south of France for the first time with William Chappell in September 1927 (see also The Evill/Frost Collection, Sale I, lot 1).

The intensely packed colour and detail of Ladies on the Riviera is a rare manifestation of Burra's early style and reveals his acute attention to the idiosyncrasies of the passing crowds. Moreover, the carefully applied layers of colour and tone present a crucial stage in the development of his highly stylized figuration.

We are grateful to Professor Jane Stevenson for her kind assistance with the cataloguing of this work.