
Penny Day
Head of UK and Ireland
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£60,000 - £80,000
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Head of UK and Ireland

Head of Department

Director
Provenance
With The Lefevre Gallery, London
Exhibited
London, The Lefevre Gallery, Watercolours by Edward Burra, 7-30 May 1959, cat.no.2 (ill.b&w)
Literature
Andrew Causey, Edward Burra, Complete Catalogue, Phaidon, Oxford, 1985, cat.no.262 (ill.b&w)
The 1950s were a period of change for Edward Burra as the family moved from Springfield Lodge, a large early Victorian house on the outskirts of Rye, to Chapel House which commanded stunning views over the levels of Romney Marsh. Many of the artist's earliest landscapes and outdoor studies had been produced at the former residence and a change of location provided new opportunities despite the death of his father in 1957. By 1955 Burra had struck out in an entirely new direction and was producing a highly original yet unexpected group of still lifes.
Dating to between 1957-9, Vase of Leaves is semi-abstract in style as it displays a botanically identifiable plant (a laurel) whose properties have to a certain extent been simplified. The work, as with other examples from the period, is characterised by an intensity of colour which gives a liveliness to the composition. It has been noted that these still lifes sometimes appear like flowers from a dream or seen under the influence of drugs, taking on an almost lifelike quality in some instances. In the present work the foliage spills out and dominates the foreground almost as if it is growing and moving towards us the viewer.