LAKI SENANAYAKE

30 - Eclipse
Signed and dated 'Laki-Nairobi Dec-2010' (Lower left)
Watercolour on Paper
22in x 30in (56cm x 76cm)
Painted in 2010

Provenance
Acquired from an exhibition at Barefoot by Ms Sunethra Bandaranaike

Laki Senanayake (1937 – 2021) deserves recognition as one of the most significant Sri Lankan artists of his generation - someone who has a profound ežect on the way that Sri Lankan’s perceive themselves and the world around them.

He briefly attended the Melbourne Art School, where he met the teacher Cora Abraham and the artist Richard Gabriel. Gabriel, a founder member of the ’43 group introduced him to the works of other ’43 group members, particularly George Keyt and George Claessen. This exposure provided him with the fundamental technical foundation. While Laki had some formal education, he was largely self-taught, quickly developing into an exceptional draughtsman. and colourist.

Over the years Laki functioned variously as a market gardener, landscape designer, architect, poet, illustrator and decorator. However it was as an artist that he excelled. Laki continued to draw and paint throughout his life: sometimes with serious intent, often simply for his own amusement; sometimes in abstract fashion, sometimes with painstaking realism. He explored various mediums and even dabbled in digital art using a tablet. His painting was a source of joy for both him and his admirers. He had a deep appreciation for beauty, particularly nature’s splendour. His work as an artist included painstakingly accurate botanic drawings, abstract paintings and sculptures, designs for currency notes, landscape paintings, erotic drawings and architectural installations.