Edward Burra

Alex. Reid & Lefevre Ltd, London, where acquired by the husband of the present owner, 3rd January 1995

London, Alex. Reid & Lefevre Ltd, Recent Works by Edward Burra, 22nd April - 15th May 1971, cat. no.3, illustrated. 

Andrew Causey, Edward Burra, Complete Catalogue, Phaidon, Oxford, 1985, cat. no.361, illustrated.

The sheet is fully laid down onto a backing card. The sheet has been trimmed, although part of the deckled lower edge remains. In places the sheet has been trimmed unevenly, most apparent at the left vertical edge. There is a faint vertical crease just to the right of the centre of the lower edge. Around the edges of the sheet there is evidence of some slight rubbing, and one or two very small creases and possible tears. There is some craquelure and some very small possible flecks of loss to the yellow pigment of the truck in the foreground. There are some possible very tiny flecks of loss to the green pigment to the upper left of the chimney second from left, and some further possible loss to the green pigment to the lower right of this chimney. There is some light surface dirt, studio detritus and light staining in places. There is some extremely minor discolouration around the extreme edges in places, only visible when viewed out of the frame. There are some scuffs and rubbing apparent near the centre of the lower edge. Subject to the above, the work appears to be in good overall condition. The work is window mounted and presented in a painted wooden frame, held under glass.Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
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As is common with many of Burra’s late paintings, The Old Viaduct takes on a high view point, the road providing a perspectival tool which pulls the viewer’s eye into the distance, allowing us to peer at the busy urban high street, as well as the landscape which arises in the background. Papered with graphic advertisements for the likes of Esso and Dazz, the street is peopled by characters that emerge from Burra’s rich imagination, from a towering long legged lady in a mini skirt and heels, to a figure gripping a sparkly clutch wearing a sombrero, to the brightly coloured octopus scurrying up the lane, perhaps the oddest inhabitant of this vibrant scene. While many of Burra’s works focused on urban streetscapes, here the perspective means the surrounding landscape takes on additional emphasis and importance – as equal attention is paid to the remnants of the antiquated viaduct towering above the scene, the buildings and factories that are visible amongst the rolling hills.

Landscape was very much a part of Burra’s work from an early stage, but it is only towards the end of his career when it became a subject to which he devoted a concerted effort. At this time Burra was becoming increasingly frustrated with urban life, finding it more and more difficult to negotiate the swelling crowds and cobbled streets with his deteriorating joints. In the mid-1960s he began taking regular motoring trips around Britain with his sister Anne. She would collect Burra in a car and would make all the arrangements, so he needed only to come along for the ride. Along the way, Burra would often ask Anne to stop so he could get out and take in the landscape. As his friend William ‘Billy’ Chappell recounted: 'It fascinated me to watch Edward when the car halted by some especially splendid spread of hills, moorland, and deep valleys. He sat very still and his face appeared completely impassive. He might, I thought, have been staring at a blank wall, until I saw the intensity of his gaze' (quoted in William Chappell (ed.), Edward Burra, A Painter Remembered by His Friends, Andre Deutsch Ltd, in association with the Lefevre Gallery, 1982, p.112). Burra’s memory was quite famously sharp, and he would take in all he saw along the way to distil and incorporate into his works - distorting, altering and adding to what he had seen using his own particularly inventive manner.

While Burra thoroughly enjoyed these motoring holidays, he was also an early voice for the negative aspects of motoring, a mode of transport and a pastime that had captured the imagination of the wider British public. Burra felt there was huge inefficiency in the consumerist dream of everyone owning their own motor car. He saw first-hand how our increased reliance on automobiles, particularly for the transport of goods, meant rising need for infrastructure which was quickly changing the face of the British landscape. Many of Burra’s late landscapes such as Snowdonia No.2 (1971) imply an ominous presence, or in works such as Machines Quarrelling (1968-9), are more explicit in their comment on the destruction of this ‘green and pleasant land.’

Painted in 1970, the execution of The Old Viaduct contrasts with Burra’s earlier works, which are painted tightly, with a matte finish and opaqueness, feeling similar in many ways to tempera. Here Burra uses the watercolour medium to an entirely different effect - he utilizes thin washes of pigment, often blurs the boundaries, and allows forms to become almost translucent, encouraging a prevailing sense of disquiet and transience. At one stage Billy Chappell questioned why Burra’s figures were becoming increasingly diaphanous and he replied with his typically cutting wit: ‘Don’t you find as you get older, you start seeing through everything’ (the Artist, quoted in William Chappell (ed.), ibid., p.117).