GEORGE KEYT (1901-1993 Sri Lanka)
Keyt is one of Sri Lanka's most distinguished and renowned modernist painters, with cerebral impulses that went beyond painting. He is considered one of the country’s foremost poets and proclaimed his perceptions and practice as an artist in a few notable essays. A significant literary contribution was the translation of the
Gita Govinda into English and Sinhala, which translation was illustrated with his own elegant line drawings.
His works have been exhibited internationally for over five decades, including in India, London and other European and American centres. They are actively auctioned through the international houses.
Keyt’s career has been reviewed and eulogised by eminent critics such as Herbert Read, William Archer, Andre Chamson, George Besson, Mulk Raj Anand, E. M. Forster, John Berger and William Graham.
Select Institutional Collections
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Museum of Modern Art, New Delhi
Peabody Essex Museum, Boston
The Lionel Wendt Collection, Colombo
Presidential Collection, Sri Lanka
The Lionel Wendt Collection, Colombo
The George Keyt Foundation Collection, Colombo
Major Literature
George Keyt , 1949, by Martin Russell
India and Modern Art, 1959, by W.G. Archer
Gita Govinda Translation, 1979, by George Keyt
George Keyt, Interpretations, 1991, by Sunil Goonasekera
43 Group, A chronicle of Fifty Years in the art of Sri Lanka, 1993, by Neville Weereratne
The Flamed Mosaic, Indian Contemporary Painting, 1997, by Neville Tuli
George Keyt, A Centennial Anthology, 2001, The George Keyt Foundation
