Edward Burra

Tate Britain exhibition: 13 June - 19 October 2025
A new major monograph on the unconventional life and works of English painter, printmaker and draughtsman, Edward Burra (1905-1976)

A contemporary to British Surrealist artist Paul Nash, Edward Burra is known in particular for his depictions of contemporary urban life and the 1930s Harlem scene. Despite being afflicted with many health conditions throughout his lifetime, he travelled extensively to France, Spain, America and Mexico, their influences appearing across his paintings, his music, and his designs for the ballet, opera, and the theatre.

This exciting publication - set to accompany the first Tate exhibition of Burra's works since the artist's lifetime in 1973 - offers a close look at over eighty of Burra's works, some of which will be presented for the first time from the Tate archives. It reveals the life of an artist who experienced first-hand many of the most turbulent and catastrophic events of the twentieth century, including the Second World War and the Spanish Civil War, and reflected them in his increasingly surrealist work.

About the Authors

Thomas Kennedy is Curator, Modern British Art at Tate Britain.

Eliza Spindel is Assistant Curator, Modern British Art at Tate Britain.