The exhibition of the work of Edward Burra, one of Britain’s most distinctive 20th-century artists (Tate Britain, London, until 19 October) is well worth a visit, if only to enjoy the many paintings he produced of New York and Boston jazz life in the 1930s.
When in New York, Burra appears to have spent most nights at the Savoy Ballroom or Apollo in Harlem, painting the mainly black dancers and musicians with delight and relishing their enjoyment.
Over the years Burra amassed a large collection of jazz records and also magazines, and Jazz Journal gets some unexpected coverage in the exhibition with two editions – August 1948, featuring Nellie Lutcher on the cover, and June 1950, featuring Coleman Hawkins – on proud display.
In its single-colour striped cover the magazine looked stylish then, and obviously entertained him in the drab years after the war, when his health was fading and his disgust at the modern world intensified.
The Tate writes of Burra’s fascination with music that “Compelled by his love of music – which plays in the exhibition – he travelled to America, visiting Boston and Harlem, New York, in the early 1930s. There he immersed himself in the vibrant nightlife, enjoying the experience of crowded jazz clubs during the Harlem Renaissance. Burra translated the energy and enthusiasm he witnessed into works like Red Peppers 1934-35, capturing the multi-cultural modern metropolis.”
