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NOVEMBER 2016 | THE TIES THAT BIND
35
SENAKA SENANAYAKE
(b. 1951)
Untitled
Signed and dated 'Senaka Senanayake 1980' (lower left)
1980
Oil on canvas
28.25 x 21 in (71.8 x 53.4 cm)
$ 12,125 - 15,155
Rs 8,00,000 - 10,00,000
PROVENANCE:
Private European Collection
Private Collection, New Delhi
EXHIBITED:
Solo Exhibition
, Saarbrucken: Euro-Kunst,
17 September - 11 October 1980
The flora and fauna of Sri Lanka’s
forests are the anchoring theme
of Senaka Senanayake’s art. The
Colombo-based artist is deeply
committed to preserving the
depleting rainforests of Sri Lanka,
many of which were converted
into tea estates and rubber
plantations during the years of
colonial rule. His brightly hued
canvases appear deeply spiritual,
and evoke happiness, which is
of great importance to the artist.
The forest scenes with birds
and animals within close-ups of
large leaves and flowers evoke a
dream-like magical realm that is
reminiscent of the artist Henri
Rousseau. The bright colours of
the rainforests and its inhabitants
suffuse his paintings with a
pleasantly lurid beauty and remind
us of the mortality of our planet.
Senanayake’s paintings offer a
defiant vision of beauty to a world
dominated by war and strife.
“Senanayake’s
paintings
are
gorgeously positive, his forests
wearing saturated runway colours,
his birds right out of an ancient
fable. His style is often criticised
as being purely aesthetic, but it is
by no means emotionally inert. In
fact, his work is an ironic reminder
of the fading beauty of his world, a
hope against hope that whatever
is left of nature can be conserved.
It is equal parts celebration,
elegy and documentation of the
fragile rainforests of Sri Lanka.” (V
Shoba, “Senaka Senanayake: Life Is
Beautiful,”
Open Magazine
15 July
2016, online)
33
K LAXMA GOUD
(b. 1940)
Untitled
Signed 'K. Laxma Goud' (on the reverse)
Bronze
Height: 10.5 in (26.7 cm)
Width: 16 in (40.6 cm)
Depth: 4 in (10.2 cm)
$ 3,000 - 5,000
Rs 1,98,000 - 3,30,000
This lot is offered at NO RESERVE
Third from a limited edition of nine
34
SANKHO CHAUDHURI
(1916 - 2006)
Untitled
Bronze
Height: 11 in (27.9 cm)
Width: 6.5 in (16.5 cm)
Depth: 5 in (12.7 cm)
This work is attached to a wooden base measuring
1.5 x 8 x 8 inches
$ 10,000 - 15,000
Rs 6,60,000 - 9,90,000
This lot is offered at NO RESERVE