George Keyt

{{Short description|Sri Lankan painter (1901-1993)}} {{More footnotes needed|date=November 2019}} '''George Percival Sproule Keyt''', {{post-nominals|post-noms=MBE}} (17 April 1901 – 31 July 1993) was a Sri Lankan painter.<ref name=Keyt>[https://books.google.com/books?id=s8cOAQAAMAAJ George Keyt, a centennial anthology], (George Keyt Foundation) {{ISBN|9789559065074}}</ref> He is often considered Sri Lanka's most distinguished modern painter.<ref name=Charles>{{cite book|last=Gunawardena|first=Charles A.|title=Encyclopedia Of Sri Lanka|year=2005|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd|page=216|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hWLQSMPddikC&q=george+keyt+gotami+vihara&pg=PA216|isbn=9781932705485}}</ref> Keyt's dominant style is influenced by cubism. He also claimed to be influenced by his contemporary Henri Matisse and the ancient Buddhist art and sculpture of Nagarjunakonda, Sanchi and Gandhara.<ref name=Keyt/> The Jataka tales formed a recurring theme in many of his works.<ref name=Gotama>[http://www.island.lk/2007/04/11/midweek3.html Gotama Buddha Murals] by Professor Anuradha Seneviratna (The Island), Retrieved 22 October 2015</ref><ref>[http://www.sundaytimes.lk/031228/funday/2.htm Gotami Vihara], Sunday Times, Retrieved 22 October 2015</ref>

In addition to being a painter, Keyt was a poet. He outlined his perceptions and practice as a painter in a few essays on the vision of the painter. One of his most notable literary works is his translation of the ''Gita Govinda'' into English (Bombay, 1940) and Sinhalese.<ref name=lives>[https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2007/04/22/imp02.asp The lives of Keyt] by Tissa Devendra (Sunday Observer), Retrieved 22 October 2015</ref> These translations were illustrated by his own line drawings (see Martin Russell collection and Amerasinghe-Ganendra collections).

== Early life == Keyt was born in Ceylon, the son of Henry Kriekenbeek Keyt and Constance Evelyn née Sproule. He was educated at Trinity College (Kandy), an elite colonial school in the British public school tradition. Stemming from Anglo-Dutch Burgher origins, Keyt gave much time from an early age to drawing and the study of art and developed a consuming passion for books and reading.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://gallery-mimie.com/International/IAC.htm |title=George Keyt Foundation |access-date=2005-10-22 |archive-date=2006-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210211130/http://www.gallery-mimie.com/International/IAC.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Influence == The spell of the ancient hill capital and its Buddhist aura soon came to exercise a powerful and lasting influence and was to provide both the literary and artistic stimulus living so close to the Malwatte Vihare.<ref name=lives/> He became greatly drawn towards Buddhism and championed the cause of the Buddhist revival. He wrote profusely in both prose and verse. The young painter also began to turn his back on the values of the westernised milieu of the class into which he was born.

His explorations in Hindu mythology and Indian literature led him to close links with the cultural life of India, where he lived for long and short periods from 1939 right up to the late seventies. To the Sri Lankan Buddhist source were now added the imagery of Hindu myth and legend as key influences.

A meeting with Rabindranath Tagore in the 1930s in Ceylon left a lasting impression.

== 43 Group == {{main|Colombo '43 Group}} In 1930 at the Ferguson Hall, Union Place, the photographer Lionel Wendt organised Keyt and fellow artist Geoffrey Beling's first exhibition. Critics considered the art ‘manifestly ridiculous and degrading’, however Pablo Neruda, the Chilean poet, wrote in the ''Times of Ceylon'' that "true artists are rare in Ceylon. There are two exceptions".<ref>https://www.facebook.com/events/1591899001138084/ {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=January 2021}} The exhibition also included works by Charles Freegrove Winzer, to whom Keyt and Beling were pupils.<ref name="ArtCeylon">{{cite web |title=Charles Freegrove Winzer |url=https://www.artceylon.com/artist63.html |publisher=Art Ceylon |accessdate=14 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="Taprobane">{{cite web |title=George Keyt |url=http://taprobanecollection.com/artist/george-keyt |publisher=Taprobane Collection |accessdate=14 August 2020}}</ref> [[File:Expo 67, pavillon du Ceylan, vitrail.jpg|thumb|George Keyt − Window of Sri Lankan Pavillon at Expo 67 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada]] Keyt was a founder member of the Colombo '43 Group of Sri Lankan artists, and one of its four leading painters, along with Ivan Peries, Justin Daraniyagala and Harry Pieris.<ref>'Ivan Peries, Paintings 1938 - 88', Prof. Senake Bandaranayake and Manel Fonseka, Tamarind Publications, Columbo 1996</ref><ref name=Harold>{{cite web|url=http://sundaytimes.lk/050717/plus/3.html |title=Harold Peiris |publisher=Sundaytimes.lk |date=22 July 1905 |accessdate=2011-09-10}}</ref> Keyt, Pieris and Lionel Wendt are also known for their efforts to popularise Kandyan dance and other Sri Lankan dance forms.<ref>[http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=152784 Traditional dance in British Ceylon] by Kamalika Pieris (The Island), Retrieved 22 October 2016</ref> Harold Peiris was his brother-in-law.<ref name=Harold/>

Many exhibitions of his work have also been held in India, London and other European and American centres. His pictures are found in various museums and galleries abroad, as well as in private collections in Sri Lanka and throughout the world.<ref name=Charles/>

== Honours == Sri Lanka has issued several stamps featuring the paintings of George Keyt. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1953 New Year Honours.

== References == <references/>

== External links == {{commons category}} * [https://georgekeytfoundation.com/ The George Keyt Foundation] * [http://www.lanka.net/gallery/paintings/heritage/html/george%20keyt.htm# Examples of Keyt's work] * [http://www.theprivategallery.com/gallery/srilankan_art.shtml Examples of contemporary Sri Lankan painting] * [https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2007/04/22/imp02.asp The lives of Keyt In memory of the 106th birth anniversary of George Keyt]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keyt, George}} Category:1901 births Category:1993 deaths Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy Category:Burgher artists Category:People from British Ceylon Category:Sri Lankan Buddhists Category:Sri Lankan people of Dutch descent Category:20th-century Sri Lankan painters Category:Ceylonese Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Kala Keerthi Category:Buddhist artists