Taprobane Collection

L.T.P. Manjusri Thero (1902 – 1982)

‘The maverick of the 43 Group’

 

An aimless village lad, who through singleminded tenacity of purpose, determination and hard work in the chosen career, achieved the rare recongition of being one of the most significant artists of modern Sri Lanka (Dharmasiri, 2001-9).

The epitom in his journey as an artist was when he was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award and an Honorary Doctarate from the University of Peradeniya in 1979.

Born in 1902, Manjusri entered the Buddhist monastic order in 1915, and by 1922 earned reputation as a scholar in Sinhala, Pali Sanskrit and Buddhist Philosophy. He thereafter went to Tibet to learn Chinese. He visited Shantinekatan on his return jounrey where he met Nandalal
Bose who introduced him to painting.

Back in Sri Lanka in 1934, Manjusri started making copies of Buddhist temple murals. These murals were then taken back to Shantiniketan and exhibited together with some work of Rabindranath Tagore. During this time he met Harry Pieris and George Keyt who infulenced him to join the 43 Group (which he was to leave in 1947). Soon afterwards,he travelled to England and held an exhibition in 1948 in London of mural copies and other paintings of his own. He also held exhibtions in Vienna, Austria the same year.

On his return to Sri Lanka he reverted to lay life and became a journalist first in ‘Lankadeepa’ and then ‘Silumina’, ‘Janata’, ‘Observer’ and ‘Daily News’. In 1977, the Archiological Society of Sri Lanka published his book ‘Decorative Elements from Sri Lanka Temple Paintings’.

It is important to note the Manjusri’s work has been acquired by the New York Public Library, the Horniman Museum, the Vienna Museum and numerour private collections.

Refrences: Weeraratne (1993) and Dharmasiri (2001-9)

Name of ExhibitionYearPlace
Joint Exhibition with Rabindranath Tagore1930'sSantiniketan
’43 Group 2nd Exhibition1944Darley Road, Colombo
100 Frescoes and 30 Originals by Manjustri Thero1947Art Gallery, Colombo
Frescoes from Ceylon Temples and Original Paintings by Manjusri Thero1948South Kensington, London
Ceylon: A Painter’s Country: An Exhbition Illustrating the Practice of Painting in Ceylon from the 5th Century to the Present Day1960South London Gallery, Camberwell, London
43 Group exhibition to honor George Keyt1991Colombo
Exhibition of the ’43 Group and Other Artists by The Taprobane Collection2017Nelum Arts Centre, Colombo
Name of BookYear of PublicationAuthorPrinter
Design Elements from Sri Lankan Temple Paintings1977L.T.P. ManjusriLake House Printers Ltd.

Other Publicaitons the Artist has been mentioned in

Name of BookYear of PublicationAuthorPrinter
Art in Sri Lanka – The Anton Wickramasinghe Collection1988Albert DharmasiriANCL – Lake House
Modern Sri Lankan Painters1992George Keyt FoundationSiri Printers
43 Group1993Neville WeereratneLantana Publishing
Moods and Modes – 50 years of Sri Lankan Painting1999The Goearge Keyt Foundation Text by: Martin Russel, Nihal Rodrigo, Ellen Dissanayake, S.B. DissanayakeAitken Spence Printing
Visions of an Island – Rare works from Sri Lanka in The Christopher Ondaatje Collection1999Neville WeereratneHarper Collins Publishers Ltd
The Presidential Collection – Contemporary Sri Lankan Art2008Presidential SecretariatPresidential Secretariat
Sri Lankan Painting in the 20th Century2009Senake Bandaranayake and Albert DharmasiriThe Nationl Trust Sri Lanka
Artful Resistance – Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka2010Sylvia S. Kasprycki and Doris I StambraSKF Publishers
The Heritage I, II, III-Albert DharmasiriR. Rajamahendran

Ref :M 12

Title :Sun Set

Signed :Lower Right

Measurements in Cms  :15.5 x 21

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 103

Title :Untitled

Signed :Lower Left

Year :1942

Measurements in Cms :30.5 x 25

Material Used :Pencil on Paper

 

Ref :M 42

Title :The Nativity

Signed :Lower Left & Right

Measurements in Cms :21 x 27

Year :1944

 

Ref :M 75

Title :Justin Daraniyagala

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1944

Measurements in Cms :55 x 45

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 3

Title :The Couple

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1945

Measurements in Cms :28.5 x 36

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 9

Title :Untitled

Signed :Lower Left

Year :1945

Measurements in Cms  :28.5 x 36

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :GK 11-63

Title :Untitled (Musicians)

Year :1920’s

Measurements in Cms :42.9 x 35

Material Used :Pencil, ink and gouache on Paper

 

Ref :M 65

Title :Untitled

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1945

Measurements in Cms  :38 x 35.5

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 101

Title :Untitled

Signed :Lower Left

Year :1947

Measurements in Cms  :35 x 17

Material Used :Pencil on Paper

 

Ref :M 7

Title :The Lion

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1947

Measurements in Cms  :23.5 x 33.5

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 80

Title :Untitled

Signed :Upper Left

Year :1947

Measurements in Cms  :25 x 16

Material Used :Pastel on Paper

 

Ref :M 82

Title :Ladies Fingers

Year :1947

Measurements in Cms :25.5 x 17.5

Material Used :Pencil on Paper

 

Ref :M 92

Title :Arabia

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1947

Measurements in Cms  :25.5 x 17.5

Material Used :Pencil on Paper

 

Ref :M 116

Title :A Poetic Composition(The Shark)

Signed :Upper Left

Year :1949

Measurements in Cms  :25.5 x 17.5

Material Used :Pencil on Paper

 

Ref :M 114

Title :The Embrace

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1947

Measurements in Cms :25.5 x 17.5

Material Used :Pencil on Paper

 

Ref :M 19

Title :Untitled

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1950

Measurements in Cms  :44 x 32

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 163

Title :Temple Fresco

Signed :Lower Left

Year :1970’s

Measurements in Cms 55.5 x 76

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 2

Title :Mermaid

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1972

Measurements in Cms  :73 x 59

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 16

Title :Union

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1972

Measurements in Cms :74 x 56

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 39

Title :Temple of Konerak

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1972

Measurements in Cms :73.5 x 56

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 8

Title :The Horse

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1973

Measurements in Cms :36.5 x 31

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 160

Title :Friends

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1974

Measurements in Cms  :33.5 x 24

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 11

Title :Two Monks

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1975

Measurements in Cms  :36.5 x 30

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 46

Title :The Eye

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1975

Measurements in Cms  :37.5 x 31.5

Material Used :Water

Ref :M 67

Title :Lovers with Serpent

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1975

Measurements in Cms  :34.5 x 23

Material Used :Ink on Paper

 

Ref :M 93

Title :Untitled

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1975

Measurements in Cms :31.5 x 23

Material Used :Ink on

Ref :M 96

Title :Untitled

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1975

Measurements in Cms  :32 x 22

Material Used :Pencil on Paper

 

Ref :M 102

Title :Untitled

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1975

Measurements in Cms  :33.5 x 23.5

Material Used :Pencil on Paper

 

Ref :M 126

Title :Lotus Buds

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1975

Measurements in Cms :34.5 x 25

Material Used :Ink & Pencil on Paper

 

Ref :M 6

Title :Japanese Lady

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1976

Measurements in Cms :43.5 x 36

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 14

Title :Wild Flower

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1976

Measurements in Cms  :34.5 x 25

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 30

Title :The Bathers

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1977

Measurements in Cms  :24.5 x 35

Material Used :Oil on Board

 

Ref :M 14

Title :Wild Flower

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1976

Measurements in Cms :34.5 x 25

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 47

Title :The Lady

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1977

Measurements in Cms :44 x 37

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 38

Title :The Beauty & the Beast

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1979

Measurements in Cms :44 x 36

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 44

Title :The Monk

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1979

Measurements in Cms  :78 x 56

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

 

Ref :M 48

Title :Untitled

Signed :Lower Right

Year :1980

Measurements in Cms :48 x 51.5

Material Used :Water Colour on Paper

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