Edward Burra (1905-1976)

‘Although he [Burra] frequently attended the ballet and the opera, he did not depict these salubrious venues, but instead, like Walter Sickert, he was drawn to paint the baser music halls and strip-bars. In 1928 he visited dance and music halls in Paris such as the Bal Nègre and the bals musettes in the Rue de Lappe' (S. Martin, ‘Painting the stage and screen: Burra and performance’, exhibition catalogue, Edward Burra, Chichester, Pallant House Gallery, 2012, p. 109).