Important Lankan art to star in Sotheby’s Auction

• Three works by George Keyt to come under hammer from collection of Martin Russell  

Sotheby’s London Sale of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art next week will be distinguished by three important works by George Keyt (1901-1993), one of the founding fathers of Sri Lankan Modernism.

Head of Sotheby’s London Sale of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, Ishrat Kanga, said: “The influence of the western avant-garde spread all across the world in the mid-20th century, to trailblazing artists who wanted to forge their own artistic path in their respective countries. 

George Keyt was at the very forefront of this movement in Sri Lanka. Adopting the influences of Cubism, from Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, into his own local idiom, he radicalised his art practice and became one of the most important modern artists of his time.”

George Keyt’s oil paintings, Lovers and Nayika (Vasantha Raga), have the ‘holy grail’ of provenance for works by the artist, having once resided in the collection of Martin Russell, one of the most important patrons of Sri Lankan art of the last century.

Martin Russell’s tireless efforts towards the propagation of modern Sri Lankan art has resulted in the astounding reception and popularity as it stands today. Russell was more than just a collector. A man of great intellect, in his time in Sri Lanka and subsequently India, he gained extensive knowledge of Hindu Iconography.

Russell’s book on Keyt, released in 1950, remains the seminal publication on the artist to date. Lovers - a classic example of Keyt’s work from the 1930s when Cubism heavily influenced his artistic output - is illustrated within its pages.

Nayika (Vasantha Raga) is also a wonderful example of Keyt’s mastery; all the fundamentals of his genius for colour, line and form can be seen here. This work was created in 1943, a seminal year in Keyt’s oeuvre. 1943 was the year when the very first professional modernist group of artists, the Colombo ’43 group, was formed pre-dating the Bombay Progressives by five years. This was the time when Keyt was living in Amunugama and working on the large murals in the Buddhist temple of the Gotami Vihara - a landmark of his career.

A third painting by the artist Untitled (Couple Embracing), from the 1960s, boasts similarly illustrious provenance, having once been in the collection of Christine Spittel-Wilson, a British writer and artist who grew up in Colombo and acquired an important collection of Sri Lankan Modernism - establishing herself as another early proponent of modern art.

Finally, the sale will also include a charming early work by Senaka Senanayake - Untitled (Tea Pickers) ␣ which has remained in the same private collection for thirty years. Senanayake is best known for his lush scenes of jungle fauna and flora and his art is very popular both within the country and abroad.

George Keyt, Lovers, 1935 Oil on canvas, 50.7 x 66.5 cm, estimate £ 20,000-40,000. George Keyt, Nayika (Vasantha Raga), 1943 Oil on canvas, 68 x 46.3 cm, estimate £ 15,000-20,000. George Keyt, Untitled (Couple Embracing) Circa 1960s, Pastel on paper, 45.8 x 35.6 cm, estimate £ 4,000-6,000. Senaka Senanayake, Untitled (Tea Pickers), 1977, Oil on canvas, 104 x 85.8 cm, estimate £ 6,000-8,000.

Sotheby’s has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sotheby’s became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973), India ( 1992) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). 

Today, Sotheby’s presents auctions in 10 different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby’s BidNow program allows visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids from anywhere in the world. Sotheby’s offers collectors the resources of Sotheby’s Financial Services, the world’s only full-service art financing company, as well as the collection advisory services of its subsidiary, Art Agency Partners. 

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Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer’s premium and are net of any fees paid to the purchaser where the purchaser provided an irrevocable bid.