Virgil Burnett (1928-2012) was an author, illustrator, and professor of Fine arts at the University of Waterloo whose works have been published in both North America and Europe. He was a Fulbright Scholarship recipient.

Personal History

Virgil Burnett was born in Wichita, Kansas on 11 January 1928 to Bertha and Virgil Burnett. His father was a flour and feed miller and a builder who traveled widely Burnett emigrated to Canada in 1972 to teach at the University of Waterloo.

Education

Burnett received his undergraduate degree at Columbia University in New York. While there, he studied with Edward Melcarth, a painter who specializes in social realism. He was drafted into the Korean War in 1950 and trained as a combat engineer, and later served in Europe as an illustrator for a propaganda company. After two years of military service, he attended University of California, Berkeley and took a master's degree in Art History in 1956. His research focused on the influence of Eugène Delacroix's work in the French

Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

school, and the relationships between art and text. After being awarded a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to continue his research in 1956, Burnett interacted with other expat artists in Paris and became close friends with other notable artists such as David Hill. Burnett was exposed to applications of style and expression in book art by French master printer and publisher Maurice Darantiere. The contact that Burnett had with Darantiere inspired him to pursue a career in the book arts.

Fine arts works

The majority of Virgil Burnett's fine art works are illustrations. An important aspect of Burnett's work is the emphasis on the role of the illustrator to create new meaning within interpretations of a text. Burnett illustrated the Folio Society boxed edition of ''The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam'', published in London, 1970

Writing

* ''Towers at the Edge of a World'' in 1980. * ''A Comedy of Eros'' (1984) * ''Skiamachia'' (1982) * ''Farewell Tour'' (1986) * ''A Sentimental Dialogue'' (1996) * ''The Old Met, Les Halles and Other Losses: A Memoir of the Post-War Years'' (2005) * ''Scarbo Edge: A Romance'' (2008).

Publishing

Burnett founded his own publishing house, Pasdeloup Press, in the 1960s, which published its first work in 1966, ''Le roi s'amuse''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, Virgil Academic staff of the University of Waterloo American expatriates in Canada American expatriate academics Columbia University alumni UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni American illustrators Canadian illustrators 1928 births 2012 deaths American expatriates in France Writers from Wichita, Kansas Artists from Wichita, Kansas Fulbright alumni