Category Archives: paintings

April 10, 2024 · 3:26 pm

Idyllic Explorations: Sri Lanka’s Marvellous Ruins & Monuments

Bernard VanCuylenberg, whose chosen title for this essay was  “An Odyssey – A Search for Heritage” …. with pictorial illutrations selected in arbitrary manner by the Editor, Thuppahi

Pursuant to the articles which I wrote last year, “An Odyssey – A Search for Heritage, parts 1 and 2 “) following a foray into the cornucopia of ruins buried in deep jungle well off the beaten track, I embarked on a similar venture in March this year. I am passionately moved by the treasure trove of what could be the best in ancient Sinhala civilization, possibly the life force of Sinhala culture which remains buried in the sands still awaiting the archaeologists spade, and I wish to share my experience with a wider circle of lovers of history. Parting the veil of time, an unknown sculptor, architect, engineer, master craftsman, even a poet reached out to me and held my hand leading me across the centuries in my quest.
 Degaldoruva …. off Kandy

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March 19, 2024 · 1:06 am

“Elie House” in Mutwal & Its Illustrious Occupants in the 19th Century

Avishka Mario Senewiratne, in The Island, March 2024 with this title: “Old Mutwal, Elie House and Lorenz”

 Elie House, water colour by Andrew Nicholl

 The history of this most historic and valuable abode Elie House dates back to the days of Philip Anstruther, the Colonial Secretary of Ceylon from 1833 to 1845. Anstruther was a capable Civil Servant, who won the popularity of both the home Government and the inhabitants of Ceylon. Capt. James MacDonald Henderson states in his book The Rebellion in Ceylon, “Had this gentleman [Anstruther] but retained his appointment of Colonial Secretary, there is every reason to believe that the rebellion of 1848, with its long train of miseries and misfortunes, would never have occurred”.

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February 28, 2024 · 12:20 am

Legacy of an Artist and Musician … George de Niese & His Descendants

Premila Thurairatnam …. Review of a presentation at the meeting of CSA (Melbourne Chapter) held on Sunday 12th Nov 2023 by Alan de Niese … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

Melburnians gathered at Ashwood Hall on a beautiful spring day to listen to 3MBS presenter of ‘Wednesday Night at the Opera’ Alan de Niese. In his natural, engaging, manner he related his ancestors’ history, in particular, of George de Niese who was a well-known painter and musician in Ceylon. Alan’s Dutch ancestry dates back to 1730 when Benjamin de Niese was born. He was a soldier with the Dutch East India Company and a Scriba of the Land Court of Jaffna. George de Niese (1884–1954) was his great-great-great grandson making him the sixth generation to be born and live in Jaffna. His father James was a recognised artist in Jaffna. He was also a jack-of-all-trades who was known to be a good tailor and cobbler.

   George de Niese — a self-portrait in 1944

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February 4, 2024 · 9:04 pm

Virtuosi Varied: Count De Mauny, Wendt, Paynter & Raman

Hugh Karunanayake of Melbourne now … whose title for this essay in The Island, 4 February 2024 is “LIONEL WENDT, COUNT DE MAUNY, DAVID PAYNTER, AND RAMAN” … here presented with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

The self-styled “Count”. De Mauny was born as Maurice Marie Talavande on 21 March 1886. The circumstances under which he left for Ceylon were controversial, some writers suggesting that he was compelled to leave France for misbehaviour with young men in his charge. None of these rumours have ever been established, and to this day remain as rumours. According to William Warren, author of the book ”Tropical Asian Style”, de Mauny was first invited to Ceylon in 1912 by Sir Thomas Lipton the tea magnate.

Wendt with a sketch of a young man by Paynter on the wall?

 

 

 

 

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November 1, 2023 · 7:20 pm

“Corridors of Time” Painting Exhibition at Lionel Wendt, Colombo

Corridors of Time – Artistic Narratives of Heritage and Nature …. at … the  Harold Peiris Gallery at the Lionel Wendt,  Col-7 ,,, Opening: 2nd November 2023 @ 6pm …. continuing from 3rd-5th November …  with Paintings from Royden Gibbs & Joseph Rodrigo

 

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September 22, 2023 · 5:49 pm

Scrutinizing Sri Lanka’s Past in ATITA

A New Investigative Website …. https://atita.org/

 

About Atita: Atita is dedicated to the investigation of historical events in Sri Lanka. Taking its name from the Pali word for “past” (atīta), Atita serves to fill in gaps in English-language literature of Sri Lankan history.

All are welcome to read our work, but those already familiar with Sri Lankan history since 1948 will find it the most enriching. Our primary focus is on events from 1948 to 1972, when Sri Lanka was still called “Ceylon.”

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July 18, 2023 · 11:50 am

The Temple Wall Paintings at Karandeniya

Uditha Devapriya, in the Sunday Observer, 16 July 2023, where the title reads “Interesting Temple Murals at Karandeniya” … with photos by Manusha Gunarathna

The Buddhist temples of the Southern Province, in particular those going back to the late 19th century, display a uniquely fascinating style. They cannot be viewed in isolation from the Kandyan temples, though as Senake Bandaranayake has noted, it is difficult to ascertain or conclude whether they were an offshoot of the Kandyan Period, or whether they were merely influenced by it. This debate does not concern us at present: what should concern us is that the murals of these temples reflected their times, and that no two temples, even in the same locality, were ever the same, a point I gathered when I travelled some 50 km from the Sunandaramaya in Ambalangoda to Kataluva in Ahangama a year ago.

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May 16, 2023 · 3:17 pm

Picasso’s Worldly Wisdom: Obliterating The Dog

A Canary Club Reader, … with highlighting emphasis imposed by the Editor, Thuppahi

Finally, after twenty years of non-stop propaganda in the Western media, here is an article in British and Australian newspapers that actually contains a nugget of truth, though a very tiny nugget.  The key point to observe is in the final two paragraphs which attempts to suggest why Mr. Picasso painted over the dog. It is an intriguing question.

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December 3, 2022 · 6:26 pm

The Story of a Masterpiece … and Its Painter Donald Friend

Dr Srilal Fernando, in The CEYLANKAN. Journal No, 100, November 2022, pp. 41-43

In 1969 James Gleeson, a well-respected authority on Australian painting, wrote a book called the Masterpieces of Australian Painting. It covered a full range of Australian painting from the colonial period up to the 1960’s. Of the nearly 75 artists selected, one was Donald Friend, who as most of the readers know spent 5 years in Ceylon, as a guest of Bevis Bawa. Of all the paintings by Friend he selected one which was titled The Puppets.

 

The painting done in 1965 in Australia after returning from Ceylon by Donald Friend, but before he settled down in Bali.

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August 20, 2022 · 2:05 am

The Tales around a Painting: The Kandyan Ambassadors’ Audience in Dutch Colombo, 1772

Dr Srilal Fernando in Melbourne, reproducing the firs t part of an article that arpperas in THE CEYLANKAN, The journal of the ceylon Society of Australia, Vol25/3, August 2022. Its full title therein is as follows: “The Story of a Painting. Governor Falck’s Audience to the Kandyan Ambassadors in 1772drawn and painted from life by C F Reimer, Surgeon.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A group photograph is part of a visual record of a modern day conference. What did they do in 1772, long before the advent of photography? A skilled artist was commissioned to paint the scene as it happened. The occasion was the visit of 3 Kandyan ambassadors to attend a meeting with the then Dutch Governor , Iman Willem Falck in Colombo.

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