Prodigious grace

It was from evident from the start that the evening would be a pleasant one, as soon as the artist couple Sybil Keyt and Neville Weereratne arrived at the Barefoot gallery, their affable air instantly infectious.

They reside in Melbourne Australia and once in a while in three or four years they come to Sri Lanka and grace our lovely galleries with their paintings. They have been drawing and painting for as long as they can remember and share a powerful passion for art.

“I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. Paper was hard to come by and so I used to draw on the back page of the exercise book. And very soon the book finished from the back not the front. So I told my father that I needed another exercise book and he said – why I just bought you one last week! I loved to paint and I loved to draw even though my parents were not very encouraging.” Said Neville.

From his prodigious knowledge of the history of art in Sri Lanka Neville spoke to us about the book he published in 1993 – the 43 group. And the background of that book.

“During colonialism ladies of British families having nothing much to do painted . There was nothing distinct in what they did, and that is what gave rise to the Ceylon Society of Art. This had government patronage and they went so far to build what is known as the National Gallery today. It entrenched the bad taste of British Colonialism. It kicked out people who were good painters, who had something to say but because they didn’t belong to the regime they were left out. They Ceylon society had a method of selecting paintings for exhibitions. They had a panel of judges. If ten painters sent ten paintings you could be sure 90 percent would not be hanged it if it didn’t please all the judges” pointed out Neville.

In 1943 all these people who had suffered ignominy came to Lionel Wendt and asked what to do about it. And after that meeting the 43 group was born. And they started to hold their own exhibitions. They were young and old and highly skilled. And they started to hold their own exhibitions and as time went on they became famous and the need for the 43 group diminished.

Speaking about the themes Neville paints under he said; “People, Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka that I love as a calm, gentle place, people who are gentle and lovely. I have yet to be disappointed in Sri Lanka.”

“The British had not taste for 2000 years of Sri Lankan culture and art. We were all thoroughly interested in showing people, appreciating and having to understand it for ourselves. That is the culture we were seeking to promote. One that had roots in the country and those roots went back to the origins of Sri Lankan times.” Explained Neville.

“What is inspiration to me is the people in this country. You can’t take one out of the other. We really love the opportunity to tell everyone. To learn to draw is to learn to see. If you don’t know what you are looking for then there is nothing to draw. If anyone is interested we pass down our knowledge” added Neville.

IJ

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