Lionel Wendt

Acquired from Ton Peek Photography, Utrecht, 2014

Born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1900, Lionel Wendt was a major figure in Colombo’s art scene in the early twentieth century. Wendt was exposed to the arts from an early age, and he trained as a pianist, however his family were mainly in the legal profession and soon he moved to London to study law at the Inner Temple in 1919.

However, when Wendt returned to Ceylon in 1924, he formally practiced photography and the medium became his primary mode of expression. A leader of the avant-garde in Ceylon, the 1930s were a prolific period for the artist. Wendt revived the Amateur Photographic Society of Ceylon, a group his father had founded at the turn of the century, and in 1938, the makers of Leica cameras exhibited Wendt’s work in London. In 1943, Wendt also led the ’43 Group, an important collective of artists including George Keyt, Justin Deraniyagala, George Claessen and Ivan Peries who aimed to break from British aesthetic traditions and form a new modernist language. By combining influences from abroad, such as Surrealism, with an imagery rooted in indigenous heritage, Wendt’s work consciously questioned authority and contributed to the national identity.

In the current lot, the musculature of the figures contrasts with the striking horizontal lines of the home: the bedsheet, tapestry, picture frame and wall trim. Wendt’s photographic prowess is showcased by the play of light and the surreal quality of the images. In Untitled (Sitting boy), a delicately lit face is consumed in thought. In Untitled (Sitting nude and shadow), the subject's head casts an unusual shadow behind him, melding with the painting. His body is only partly illuminated, creating further shapes and lines within his figure. Both images exhibit Wendt’s technical ability and keen sense of observation.

Wendt’s artistic practice and institutional enterprises show his commitment to the advancement of art in Ceylon. Wendt passed away in 1944, but his legacy prevails in the Lionel Wendt Centre for the Arts in Colombo, a space dedicated to visual and performing arts with theatres and exhibition galleries. His work is also held in the collections of several major museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Tate, London, the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.