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Wednesday, 29 June 2011

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Into immortal print

An exhibition of painter Justin Deraniyagala’s paintings was held last Friday at Cinnamon Grand. This exhibition coincided with the launch of a book Justin Deraniyagala- Oil Paintings featuring his work.

“He was an artist very well known in his lifetime. Unfortunately a little forgotten. This book will attempt to bring him back into public memory. I hope the book will get circulated and go into college libraries. Perhaps sometime in Sri Lanka people will start to research his work again. He had a lot of influence in his peer group.

Late Deraniyagala’s nephew looks on as the painter’s book is handed over to Secretary to President Lalith Weeratunga. Picture by Saman Sri Wedage

He died in 1967 and the quality of Art he was doing was on par with what was happening in the west. It was on par with what was happening internationally,” said Shernevz Coleh who edited the book and wrote the biographical essay.

The nephew of Justin Deraniyagala, Arjun Deraniyagala, paid tribute to his uncle saying that Justin Deraniyagala never wanted to sell him paintings but painted for the pleasure of painting. The evening culminated in a touching gesture when he presented the book to Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga.

In his address Professor Ashley Halpe mentioned some key phrases in connection to the paintings: “You have had a chance to encounter these paintings”.

What an excellent selection of words! Indeed one can only encounter a living thing. And to speak of an encounter with a painting is to speak of the encounter with the man. The painter.

Every single painting on display at the Courtyard of the Cinnamon Grand was in Halpe’s words: “Each encounter is indeed personal, that is what makes it unique”. Just imagine encountering the man in each of his paintings! Every aspect of his personality; his psyche.

Halpe also mentioned another one of his observations: “Spending time with the paintings a uniquely personal discovery of a great work of art”. Truth be told a painting is worth a 1000 words and each painting is a discovery, a completely personal experience for each individual.

One might say that what you see in a painting is what you have been looking for from the start. Could this be true for every painting? Indeed painting is a study. It needs to be studied. Can anyone ascertain the complexity and depth of the human mind? Can we hope to understand this Justin Deraniyagala? What use is viewing a painting without attempting to understand the painter? What a fascinating study, this Deraniyagala’s mind!

 

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