IVAN PERIES (1921-1988 Sri Lanka)
Ivan Peries produced a body of work over fifty years of energetic activity that made a significant artistic statement and a distinctive contribution to modern art in Asia. He was a founder member of the ’43 Group of Sri Lanka.
Peries lived in England for most of his life, moving there in the 1960s, due to dissatisfaction with life in Sri Lanka.
He hoped to gain artistic inspiration and aspiration abroad, but found even more challenges. His varied and prolific landscapes, portraits and religious scenes in earthy shades reflect the tranquility that the artist perhaps aspired for in his reality.
Ivan Peries exhibited his works throughout Europe and in Sri Lanka, until his death in 1988. His paintings were exhibited posthumously at the Hayward Gallery, South Bank, London in 1989.
Select Institutional Collections
Petit Palais, Paris
Imperial War Museum, London
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
The Lionel Wendt Collection, Colombo
The Presidential Collection, Sri Lanka
Sapumal Foundation, Colombo
Major Literature
43 Group, A Chronicle of Fifty Years on the Art of Sri Lanka, 1993, by Neville Weereratne
Ivan Peries Paintings 1938-88, 1996, S. Bandaranayake and M. Fonseka
Island of Aesthetics, Asian Art Newspaper Nov. 2006
Sri Lankan Contemporary Art, Finance Asia (HK) 2004
