PRE 1934 – Taprobane Collection

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PRE 1934

G. S. Fernando (1904 – 1990)

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“SERENADE”– 1992 – ACRYLIC ON CANVAS – (

“SERENADE”– 1992 – ACRYLIC ON CANVAS – (152 x 89 Cms) by George Keyt

One of the fabulous seven large format works of this size done by the great master in 1992, the year before he passed away.

“I could sense how the forms of the Museums like the Mathura Kushan head would be transformed from black stone, and a previously determined form, into a vivid blue god. How the yakshis amid the foliage on Kanishka’s pillars would become remembrances of the shy peasant girls of the nearby villages’’ - Quoted from The Absence of A Desired Image - by Dr. SinhaRaja Tammita – Delgoda - 2023.

See page numbers 246 & 247 of above publication.

Also Lot 33 of exhibition catalogue of the George Keyt Foundation exhibition held in 1993.

HelpAge Sri Lanka Review Cover - 1992-1993

International Distillers Lanka Limited Calendar - 1994

An early bold rendering of this most sacred theme

An early bold rendering of this most sacred theme - “Pari Nirvana” – 1952 – Oil/Canvas – (81 x 91.5 Cms) by H.A. Karunaratne.

“My work during this period (1950’s) showed elements of abstraction. I was accused by some Buddhist clergy who came to see my exhibitions because I have painted monks using squares and triangles.
During this time only realistic drawing was taught and there were no teachers to teach concepts like Cubism. We did not develop those styles by anybody’s influence, but rather by ourselves. During that time there were hardly any books in these subjects.Even if teachers were there, there was not much time left for teaching.”
See page 16 and 17 H. A. Karunaratne by Anoli Perera 2019.

“School Teacher” – 1946 – Oil on Canvas – (85 x 61 Cms) by George Keyt

Another early masterpiece by this icon of Sri Lankan art.

“Simple, unadorned and pensive, figures were the inspiration for Keyt’s famed Nayika series. In ancient Indian culture Nayikas were the romantic heroines personified in the Nāṭya Śāstra, one of India’s oldest treatises on the performing arts. Nayika denoted the heroine as she appeared in Indian dance, as the lover and the mistress. Keyt’s School Teacher (1946) is in fact the model for his Nayika (1946). Only the costume is different.” - Quoted from The Absence of A Desired Image - by Dr. SinhaRaja Tammita – Delgoda - 2023.

See page number 153 of above publication.

The Capture – 1984 – Oil on Canvas – (134 x

The Capture – 1984 – Oil on Canvas – (134 x 91 Cms) by H.A. Karunaratne

A fabulous rendering in the way only the “father of abstract art in Sri lanka” can portray.

Also see page 8 Fig 10 - H.A.Karunaratne by Anoli Perera 2019.

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