Edward Burra

Alan Roger Esq.
Bunny Roger, Dundonnell, Scotland
Alex Reid & Lefevre, London, where acquired by the present owner

London, Alex Reid & Lefevre, Still Life Flower Painting by Edward Burra, May - June 1957, cat. no.5, illustrated;
London, Alex Reid & Lefevre, British Painting 1900-1999, 17th June - 23rd July 1999, cat. no.4, illustrated.

Andrew Causey, Edward Burra: Complete Catalogue, Phaidon, Oxford, 1985, cat. no.237, illustrated.

The following condition report has been prepared by Jane McAusland ACR FIIC: Support Typically this watercolour is on a wove paper, which is laid onto a thick board. Artist pinholes show at the top two corners. The condition of the sheet is excellent with no apparent damages or staining. Medium The watercolour and gum medium is very fresh, bright and in a good condition. Note: This work was viewed outside studio conditions.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Still life was a new genre for Burra in the 1950s, and one which he took on with great aplomb. In the context of the theatrical, emotional and fantastical subject matter of the preceding decades, these still lifes must have appeared incredibly fresh and striking. David Sylvester captured the power of the works in a review in the New Statesman of Burra's 1957 exhibition at Lefevre Gallery in which the present work was exhibited - he descibed the 'drama in the flowerpieces... perhaps the most pungent thing Burra has ever given us... they are more vividly, more intensely, striking and disturbing, precisely because they need nothing other than their spiky shapes and clashing colours to make them so' (Sylvester, 25th May 1957, quoted in Andrew Causey, Edward Burra: The Complete Catalogue, Oxford, 1985, p.73).

Burra's own description of the still lifes in the 1957 exhibition as 'All flowers and still lifes. All sweetness and light' in a letter to Conrad Aiken dated February 1957, sounds distinctly tongue in cheek from a man who described the dramatic nature of all his work to John Rothenstein. Rothenstein recalled Burra's words, "Everything," he said to me, "looks menacing; I'm always expecting something calamitous to happen."' Rothenstein's perception of 'a dramatic and sinister ambience' in the still lifes conveys the subtle impact they had on contemporary audiences (John Rothenstein, Edward Burra, exh.cat., Tate Gallery, London, 1973, p.35).

In contrast to much of his other work, Burra's still lifes were painted from life, and Dahlia and Daisies is depicted in great detail. There is no doubting the influence of seventeenth-century Dutch still life painting when looking at the close attention to detail and focus on surface texture as well as the use of a dark monotone background. The willowy white petals of the daisies are depicted in total contrast to the brooding tones and architectonic structure of the dahlia in the centre, and helps create a tension within the image that gives great impact to the whole, and imbues these apparently disparate objects with a quality of surrealism every bit as unsettling as Burra's more fanciful imagery. 

The former owner of the present work, Bunny Roger, was a great friend and patron of Burra during the Artist's youth. A flamboyant dandy of the time, Roger was infamous for his lavish and extravagant London parties and was an influential clothing designer. He founded his own dress making shop in Great Newport Street in 1937 and later ran the couture department at Fortnum's. Always interested in fashion, Burra surely must have connected with Roger's elegance and panache as well as the collector's many eccentricities.