Footnotes

Provenance
With The Lefevre Gallery, London, 1969, where acquired by the family of the present owner
Private Collection, U.K.

Exhibited
London, The Tate Gallery, Edward Burra, 23 May-8 July 1973, cat.no.135

Literature
Burlington Magazine, Volume 111, Number 795, June 1969, p.402
John Rothenstein, Edward Burra, Tate Gallery, London, 1973, p.100, cat.no.135
Andrew Causey, Edward Burra: Complete Catalogue, Phaidon Press, Oxford, 1985, cat.no.350 (ill.b&w, titled Salome, Herod, Herodias and the Head of St John the Baptist)

Salome, Herod & Herodias, & St. John the Baptist's Head, perhaps more so than any other piece by the artist, draws Burra's many varied interests together in one work. The watercolour was executed late in the artist's life and is an anomaly amongst the landscape paintings produced in the 1960s. The art historian Andrew Causey describes the sixties as a period where Burra turns towards a British Neo-Romanticist style. The luscious forest backdrop of this piece, executed with Burra's unparalleled precision, showcases the influence of the Neo-Romantics, particularly Paul Nash, on the artist's work in that decade. Whilst the setting of the work is typical of the artist's later pieces, the present work, with its biblical and operatic focus, refers back to the type of subject matter that occupied the artist in the 1950s. Burra had previously painted Salome in 1950, and his return to the same scene almost twenty years later illustrates the enduring fascination that the artist had with the subject.

It is unsurprising that a tale as macabre as Salome appealed to Burra, given his notorious pre-occupation with 'evil', which is outlined in Sir John Rothenstein's introduction to the Tate retrospective held in 1973. The tale of Salome was first described in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, which both outline the events that culminated in the beheading of John the Baptist. Herod's wife, Herodias, despises John for his insinuation that her marriage is unlawful, due to the fact that she was previously married to Herod's half-brother. At Herod's birthday, Herodias's daughter Salome dances for Herod, and pleases him to the extent that he agrees to grant her one wish. Salome's wish is for John the Baptist's head on a platter, a demand to which Herod unwillingly agrees. The story of Salome formed the basis of an opera by Strauss, which was premiered in 1905 at the Königliches Opernhaus. As a great lover of theatre, opera and ballet, in all its iterations, Burra would no doubt have been a fan of Strauss's Salome. Its tragic plot, in combination with the dark sensuality of Salome's 'Dance of the Seven Veils', would have appealed to Burra, whose depictions of women were often tinged with an undercurrent of threat.

In his mention of Salome, Herod & Herodias, & St. John the Baptist's Head in the June 1969 issue of The Burlington Magazine, Keith Roberts notes the influence of Aubrey Beardsley on the present work. Beardsley and Burra were frequently compared by critics, in part because of the similarities between the artists bold line work, but largely due to the parallels between their portrayals of women, which are described by Causey as being depicted by both artists with a combination of adulation and fear. Burra's presentation of Salome, however, is not one of fear but rather one of power. The plain white figure, with arm outstretched, stands out from her pastoral surroundings, which are rendered with the minute attention to detail that sets Burra apart as such a notable draughtsman. The present lot is part of a long tradition of artists depicting Salome, including Titian, Caravaggio and Filippo Lippi, and holds its place amongst these works as a unique instance where the artist does not judge the actions of Salome as either good or evil, but presents them to the viewer without censure. Salome here is not an innocent maiden who has been corrupted, as she is in Strauss's opera, but is a figure in command. This watercolour is a beautifully detailed painting, that draws upon Burra's fascination with biblical subjects, theatre and violence, incorporating them into a single striking image.

We are grateful to Professor Jane Stevenson for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.