Still Life with Lemons

George Keyt is a master of srilankan modern art who eagerly took up cubism and other new forms of expression in painting. The '43 Group,' srilanka's first group of modernist artists, formed in 1943, and seeking a more innovative approach, George Keyt became a leading member. In 1940 he completed the magnificent Buddhist murals at Gotami Vihara temple in Colombo. Only the figures of Mara (the demon) were rendered with cubism, and consequently the work received praise for successfully combining traditional Buddhist painting with cubism's experimental approach. This still life with lemons, with its line and color, departing from reproduction to abstract art, displays the signs of Keyt's work from the 1940s, having established an independent painting style. Since the artist tended to focus on human subjects, this still life is unusual and of particular value. (NT)