JOIN USA gregarious recluse
George Keyt died in Colombo on 31 July 1993, aged 92. “If a contradiction can be allowed, Keyt was a gregarious recluse,” wrote Martin Russell in an obituary published in The Independent, London. “He had to be one because he loved people and conversation and the other because his work demanded private thought, solitude and concentration.”
Keyt’s art seemed to absorb European Modernist innovations as well as ancient South Asian fresco techniques. “He was influenced by many kinds of art, particularly by the simple temple paintings of Ceylon, Indian sculptures and by the inventiveness of Picasso,” observed Russell. “But, French Impressionism had no effect on him. Nor did the art of China.” Russell also mentioned that the artist adopted and discarded a number of styles, both representational and modernistic.
Keyt received global recognition and critical appreciation for his art during his lifetime. His work was exhibited alongside leading European artists in galleries around the world. “The greatest merit in George Keyt’s painting is his courage, his inquisitive spirit and his originality, which asserts itself in truly oriental creations,” wrote Rudolf von Leyden, the Berlin-born geologist, who became an eminent art critic and collector in Bombay during the 1930s and 40s.
In 1930, Keyt’s paintings were shown alongside the likes of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in London. Pablo Neruda, (who had arrived in Sri Lanka in 1928 to serve with the Chilean Embassy in Colombo), wrote the introduction for the catalogue of the exhibition. “Keyt, I think, is the living nucleus of a great painter,” he observed. “In all his works, there is the moderation of maturity. [His] figures take on a strange expressive grandeur and radiate an aura of intensely profound feeling.”
Affluent upbringing
Born in 1901 into a prosperous Dutch colonial English-speaking family, Keyt lived in Sri Lanka almost all his entire life. He attended the Trinity College in Kandy, but did not bother to complete his education. He also loathed the stifling values of the Westernised class he was born into. It was in 1927 that he became a professional painter, encouraged by Lionel Wendt, the influential critic, photographer and concert pianist.
Keyt became attracted to Buddhism as a young man. He acquired considerable knowledge by interacting with the monks of Malvatu Vihara in Kandy. In addition to translating Buddhist scripts and medieval Sinhalese literature, he wrote poetry inspired by Buddhism and philosophical thought. He created the expansive Gotami Vihara paintings in 1939-1940 in Colombo, tracing the entire life of the Buddha. Considered to be a landmark in the history of Buddhist art in modern Asia, the murals are credited to have ushered modernity into Sri Lankan art. Keyt, (along with Wendt and other talented artists), was also responsible for forming the ‘43 Group. The Group’s exhibition in 1943 became a watershed event for the country.
Constant innovator
Keyt was known to be a constant innovator, perpetually re-inventing his craft, adopting and discarding subtle variations in style. His striking line drawings and colourful paintings took on many subjects from Hindu and Buddhist mythology, but always remained rooted to local traditions of the day. A prolific painter, he created many passionate and lyrical images that celebrated the beauty and allure of the female form. His ‘women’ paintings included exotic nude studies and sublime erotic renderings of love, passion and blissful companionship.
Keyt made frequent trips to India, which he considered his ‘spiritual home’. From his early youth, he searched for an inclusive and expressive worldview, which revealed ‘the mysterious side of things, the divine in life’. He found such values in Indian philosophy, Buddhism and Hinduism. “When I discovered Indian culture, it was a readymade world in which I could feel at home.” The Indian classical tradition, comprising visual arts, dance forms, temple architecture and music, left a deep impact on him. “To be truthful, to me, it is all one,” he would say. “I can see practically no difference between Hindu sculpture, music, dance and poetry...These arts are all concerned with the same reality.”
Charm of poetry
Keyt believed that a creative artist could not take anything for granted. “Others take things for granted, but the poet or painter must not.” As a poet of considerable significance, he believed that the charm of poetry lay in words and phrases, not ideas.
For about three years (1935–37), he almost entirely focused on writing poetry. “The painting did not come to me, but the poetry did,” he reminisced about the period. In 1940, he published his version of Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda. Besides translating the 12th century Hindu love epic, he also illustrated it with delicate line drawings.
Keyt continued working right up until he died in 1993. His tempestuous life was riddled with multiple marriages and numerous affairs with women. He had also followed multiple faiths and at different time points had converted to Buddhism and Islam.