The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (79 page)

 
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burr
.

In metal engraving, the rough, upturned edge of the furrow made in the plate by the
burin
or needle. In
line engraving
it is removed to obtain sharpness, but in
drypoint
it is allowed to remain because the soft, rich quality it gives to the printed line is considered one of the attractions of the medium. Only a limited number of impressions can be taken before the burr wears down.

 
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(1905–76).
English painter, draughtsman, and stage designer, one of the most delightfully eccentric figures in British art. He suffered chronic ill health continuously from childhood and lived almost all his life in the genteel Sussex seaside town of Rye (he called it an ‘over-blown gifte shoppe’), but he travelled in-domitably and had a tremendous zest for life. His career, in fact, represents a revolt against his respectable middle-class background, for he was fascinated by low-life and seedy subjects, which he experienced at first hand in places such as the streets of Harlem in New York and the dockside cafés of Marseilles. From 1921 to 1925 Burra trained in various art schools, including the
Royal College
in London. He early formed a distinctive style, depicting squalid subjects with a keen sense of the grotesque and a delight in colourful detail. Usually he worked in watercolour, but on a larger scale than is generally associated with this medium and using layer upon layer of pigment so that—in reproduction at any rate—his pictures appear to have the physical substance of oil paintings. Burra's work has been compared with that of George
Grosz
, whom he admired, but whereas the satirical spirit of Grosz is linked with bitter castigation of evil and ugliness, Burra concentrated on the picturesque aspects of his subjects, which he depicted with warmth and humour. Particularly well known are his Harlem scenes of 1933–4, with their flam-boyant streetwise dudes and other shady characters. Burra's style changed little, but about the mid 1930s his imagery underwent a radical change and he became fascinated with the bizarre and fantastic (
Dancing Skeletons
, Tate, 1934). Many of his recurrent images—such as the bird-man—and his manner of juxtaposing incongruous objects acquired overtones of
Surrealism
, and although he generally kept aloof from groups he exhibited with the English Surrealists (he was also a member of
Unit One
, organized by his friend Paul
Nash
). The sense of tragedy evoked in him by the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War found expression in occasional religious pictures and during the 1950s and 1960s his interest turned from people to landscape. By this time he had achieved critical and financial success, but he reacted with sardonic humour towards his growing fame.

 
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(1861–1958).
Scottish art collector. He made an immense fortune from the family shipping business, which he sold in 1917, and devoted most of his life to collecting. His interests were extremely diverse, but his collection became particularly strong in 19th-cent. French painting. Burrell eventually amassed 8,000 objects, which he presented to the City of Glasgow in 1944, followed by the sum of £450,000 to build a new museum to house them. This was not opened until 1983 in Pollok Country Park, to the south of the city, and in the intervening years the Burrell Collection acquired something of a legendary reputation as a hidden treasure trove; it soon became one of the most popular museums in Britain. Apart from 19th-cent. French painting, it is particularly strong in medieval art. Burrell also gave paintings to the Museum and Art Gallery at Berwick-upon-Tweed; in his later years he lived nearby at Hutton Castle.

 
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(1915–95).
Italian painter,
collagist
, and designer. Originally a doctor, he was captured while serving with the Italian Army in north Africa and began to paint in 1944 as a prisoner of war in Hereford, Texas. He used whatever materials were to hand, including sacking, and after his return to Italy in 1945 (when he settled in Rome) he frequently used the device of splashing red paint on cloth in a manner that suggested bloodsoaked bandages (
Sacking with Red
, Tate, London, 1954). His later works featuring materials such as charred wood and rusty metal also reflect the direct experience of the carnage of war he had as an army doctor, even though they are elegantly constructed. Burri won international fame for these works, which were among the first to exploit the evocative force of waste and trash, and looked forward to
Junk art
in America and
Arte Povera
in Italy. He also designed stage decor for La Scala in Milan and other theatres.

 
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