Burns was an early exponent of the Art nouveau style in Scotland and an outstanding decorative artist. He returned to Edinburgh after periods studying in London and Paris and travelling in North Africa. A talented painter and designer, Burns followed the example of artists of the Arts and Crafts movement, engaging in projects involving a variety of materials. These also furthered the relationship between the arts, commerce and industry. His most famous and complete interior designs were for Crawford's Tea Rooms on Princes Street. He combined commercial projects with teaching and became Head of Painting at Edinburgh College of Art.
A decorative art style popular in Europe and North America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is characterised by stylised flowing lines of all kinds, most notably the distinctive “whiplash” curve, which was used to illustrate many forms including tendrils, plant stems, flames, waves and flowing hair.
British movement of the late nineteenth century which sought to revive handcrafts and improve design in an age of increasing mass-production. Key thinkers associated with the movement are William Morris and John Ruskin.