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.
His father was a flour and feed miller and a builder who traveled widely[1] Burnett emigrated to Canada in 1972 to teach at the University of Waterloo.
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 unit, the Fifth Loudspeaker and Leaflet Company.
His research focused on the influence of Eugène Delacroix's work in the French Romantic school, and the relationships between art and text.
Burnett was exposed to applications of style and expression in book art by French master printer and publisher Maurice Darantiere.