2009 පෙබරවාරි මස 13 වැනි දින සිදුවූ ප‍්‍රවීණ චිත‍්‍ර ශිල්පි ස්ටැන්ලි කිරින්දේ ගේ මරණය පිළිබඳ මට මුලින් ම සැළකර සිටියේ ලේක්හවුස් ආයතනයේ හිටපු නියෝජ්‍ය පුස්තකාලයාධිපති එස්.කේ.කේ. සිරිසේන මහතා ය. සමකාලීන චිත‍්‍ර කලාව ගැනත් විශේෂයෙන් ස්ටැන්ලි කිරින්දේ ගේ චිත‍්‍ර කලා භාවිතාව ගැනත් වැඩි වැටහීමක් නැති මවැන්නකු කෙසේ නම් ඔහු ගැන සැමරුම් ලිපියක් ලියන්නද...?
සුනිල් මිහිඳුකුල 2009 / 03 /29
අප රටේ ඉපිද මතකය සහ නිර්මාණ පමණක් තබා නිහඬව නික්මී ගිය සැබෑ මිනිසුන් වෙත ලංකා නිව්ස් භක්ත‍්‍යාදරයෙන් පිදෙන තවත් මතක සැමරුමකී.....
මෙම ලිපිය එදා ලියූ හිතාදර සුනිල්ට අපේ ප්‍රණාමයද මේ සමග....
මම ආචාර්ය තිස්ස අබේසේකරයන්ට දුරකථනයෙන් කතාකර කිරින්දේ ගේ චිත‍්‍ර කලා දිවිය අළලා විමර්ශනාත්මක ලිපියක් ලියන්නැයි ඇරියුම් කළෙමි. එබඳු කාර්යයක් උදෙසා මා ඔහු විශේෂයෙන් තෝරා ගත්තේ ඇයි? කරුණු දෙකක් ඊට තුඩුදුන් බව කිවමනා ය. එකක් තිස්ස, කිරින්දේ ගේ ගෝලයකු වීමයි. අනික කිරින්දේ සිංහල රසිකයන් වෙත හඳුන්වාදීමට පුරෝගාමීවූවන්ගෙන් තිස්ස ප‍්‍රමුඛයකු වීමයි.
කිරින්දේ පරිපාලන සේවයට එළැඹෙන්ට පළමුවෙන් ඉතා ම කෙටි කාලයක් පාසල් ගුරුවරයකු වශයෙන් කටයුතු කර ඇත. පන්නිපිටියේ ධර්මපාල විදුහල ඔහු උගැන්වූ පාසලකි. එකල තිස්ස එම විදුහලේ සිසුවකු ව සිටියේ ය.
දැඩි අවිවේකය මත තිස්ස අතින් ලිපියක් ලිවීම තරමක් පමාවී ඇත. මාගේ අල්ප දැනුම අනුව හෝ ස්ටැන්ලි කිරින්දේට කිසියම් සාධාරණත්වයක් ඉටු කළ යුතු ව තිබේ. තිස්ස අබේසේකරයන් වරක් කිරින්දේ හඳුන්වා තිබුණේ දැනට ජීවතුන් අතර සිටින ශ්‍රේ
ස්ටැන්ලි කිරින්දේ ගැන සිංහල පුවත්පත් කලාවේදීන් තබා චිත‍්‍ර කලාව ශාස්ත‍්‍රාලීය මට්ටමෙන් උගන්වන විද්‍යාර්ථීන් හෝ නවක සිත්තරුන් හෝ වැඩි විස්තරයක් දන්නේ යැයි සිතිය නොහැකි ය. ඊට එක් හේතුවක් වන්නේ ඔහු ඇතැම් සිත්තරුන් මෙන් පටු වාණිජ අභිමතාර්ථ පෙරදැරි කරගෙන චිත‍්‍ර ප‍්‍රදර්ශන නොපැවැත්වී ම ය.
“මගේ ජීවිකාව චිත‍්‍ර ඇඳීම නොවේ. ඒත් මම නිරතුරු ව ම චිත‍්‍ර අඳීනවා. ප‍්‍රදර්ශන පැවැත්වීමට හෝ ඒවා අලෙවි කොට මුදල් ඉපැයීමට හෝ මට ආශාවක් නැහැ යනුවෙන් කිරින්දේ වරක් තිස්ස අබේසේකරයන්ට පවසා ඇත. කිරින්දේ පවත්වා ඇති චිත‍්‍ර ප‍්‍රදර්ශන සංඛ්‍යාව දහය දොළහ නො ඉක්මවයි.
කිරින්දේ උපන්නේ 1930 අපේර්ල් 24 වැනිදා දුම්බර මිටියාවතේ දීගල නම් වූ ග‍්‍රාමයේ දී ය. දුනුවිල පන්සලේ ඇඳ තිබූ චිත‍්‍ර කුඩා කාලයේ දී ඔහු චිත‍්‍ර ශිල්පය වෙත යොමුකරවන්ට ප‍්‍රබල ආනුභාවක් පෑවේ ය. ඔහුගේ ඇතැම් චිත‍්‍ර නිර්මාණවලට විහාර බිතුසිතුවම් සම්ප‍්‍රදායය බලපා තිබෙන බව චිචාරකයන් සඳහන් කර ඇත. ‘එළාර හා දුටුගැමුණු හටන’ නම් වූ විශිෂ්ට චිත‍්‍රයත් බුදු සිරිතේ විවිධ අවස්ථා නිරූපණය කෙරෙන චිත‍්‍රාවලියත් ජාතක කතා පාදක කොටගෙන නිර්මාණය කළ සිතුවම් මාලාවත් විග‍්‍රහ කර බලන ආචාර්ය තිස්ස අබේසේකර කියා සිටින්නේ ඒ චිත‍්‍රවලට යටින් ඇත්තේ පොලොන්නරුවේ තිවංක පිළිමගෙයි චිත‍්‍රවල සිට මහනුවර යුගයේ දෙගල්දොරුව, මැදවෙල හා හිඳගල ආදි විහාරස්ථානයන් හි ඇති බිතුසිතුවම්වල ආභාසය බව ය.
කිරින්දේ මූලික අධ්‍යාපනය ලැබුවේ මහනුවර ති‍්‍රත්ව විදුහලෙනි. (ඔහු ඊට ඇතුළු වූයේ 1939 දී ය) එහි දේවස්ථානයේ චිත‍්‍රණය කර ඇති ඩේවිඩ් පේන්ටර්ගේ නිර්මාණ කිරින්දේ කෙරෙහි ඊළඟට බලපෑවේ ය.
කිරින්දේ චිත‍්‍ර කලාව වෙනුවෙන් ප‍්‍රථම වතාවට ත්‍යාගයක් හිමි කරගත්තේ පාසල් වියේ දී ය. ඒ වනවිට ඔහුගේ වයස අවුරුදු 15 කි. ලංකා ගුරු සංගමයේ රිදී ජුබිලිය වෙනුවෙන් 1945 පැවැති ලංකා අධ්‍යාපන ප‍්‍රදර්ශනයේදී ඔහුගේ චිත‍්‍රයකට පළමු ත්‍යාගය හිමිවූයේ ය. ඉන්පසු 1948 දීත් 1949 දීත් ලංකා කලා සංගම් චිත‍්‍ර තරගවලින් ද ඔහු සම්මාන හිමිකර ගෙන ඇත.
1950 දී කිරින්දේ පේරාදෙණි විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයයට ඇතුළු වූයේ ය. ඔහුගේ විවාහය සිදුවූයේ 1958 දී ය. රත්වත්තේ පරම්පරාවට අයත් කලාවැව වලව්වේ පද්මා අයිරාංගනී රත්වත්තේ ඔහුගේ ආදරණීය බිරිය වූවා ය.
ඒ කෙසේ වෙතත් කිරින්දේ සාමාන්‍ය රසිකයන් අතරට ගියේ එච්.ඩී. සුගතපාල සැකසූ ‘නවමඟ’ පොත්පෙළට ඇඳී සන්නිදර්ශන (ILLUSTRATION) චිත‍්‍ර මඟිනි.
කිරින්දේ තම චිත‍්‍ර ප‍්‍රදර්ශන ජපානයේදීත් (1980) බංග්ලාදේශයේදීත් (1981) පවත්වා ඇත. ඇමෙරිකාවේ ස්මිත්සෝනි ආයතනයෙත් එංගලන්තයේ පොදුරාජ්‍ය මණ්ඩලීය ආයතනයේත් ඔහුගේ චිත‍්‍ර වෙනත් චිත‍්‍ර ශිල්පීන්ගේ නිර්මාණ සමඟ ප‍්‍රදර්ශනය කෙරිණි. ඔහුගේ චිත‍්‍ර ජපානයේ ෆුකුඕකා කලා කෞතුකාගාරයේත් (ජාතක කතාවක් පාදක කරගත් ’CONFLICT’ නම් වූ චිත‍්‍රය) සිංගප්පූරුවේ කලා කෞතුකාගාරයේත් (ලංකා ඉතිහාසයට අදාළ ‘THE CHIEFTAINS OF 1818’ චිත‍්‍රයත් මහාභාරත කතාවක් ඇසුරු කරගත් ’KING SIGI AND THE HAWK’ නම් වූ චිත‍්‍ර දෙක) නිත්‍ය ප‍්‍රදර්ශනය සඳහා තබා ඇත.
ස්ටැන්ලි කිරින්දේ ආලේඛ්‍ය (PORTRAIT) චිත‍්‍ර කලාවේ ද ප‍්‍රාමාණික කුසලතාවයක් දැක්වූවෙකි. 1948 දි ඔහු සරසවි පිවිසුම් පෙළේ ඉගෙනුම ලබන අවදියේ පාසලේ පැවති චිත‍්‍ර ප‍්‍රදර්ශනයකට ඉදිරිපත් කළ චිත‍්‍රයක් දුටු මහනුවර ප‍්‍රදේශයේ එක්තරා වෛද්‍යවරයෙක් තම බිරියගේ ආලේඛ්‍ය චිත‍්‍රයක් නිර්මාණය කර දිය හැකි දැයි ඔහු ගෙන් විමසා ඇත. ඒ ඉල්ලීමට කිරින්දේ ඇඳි ආලේඛ්‍ය චිත‍්‍රය ඔහුගේ ආලේඛ්‍ය චිත‍්‍ර කලාවේ පළමු පියවර වන්නේ ය. එම චිත‍්‍රය දුටු සුප‍්‍රසිද්ධ චිත‍්‍ර ශිල්පි ජෝර්ජ් කීට් මෙසේ කියා ඇත.
“සුන්දර චිත‍්‍රයක්. එය හරියට ඉන්දීය චිත‍්‍රයක් වගෙයි”
කිට් තවදුරටත් ඔහු උනන්දු කළේ ය. කිට් - කිරින්දේ ඇසුර ද එයින් ම ඇරැඹුණේ ය. කිරින්දේ පසුකලෙක ආලේඛ්‍ය චිත‍්‍ර ගණනාවක් ම ඇන්දේ ය. ඉන්දීය ජනාධිපතිවරයකු වූ ආර්.කේ. නාරායන්, ශී‍්‍ර ලංකා ජනාධිපතිවරයකු වූ ජේ.ආර්. ජයවර්ධන, අගමැතිවරියක වූ සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක ති‍්‍රත්ව විදුහලේ විදුහල්පති ව සිටි නෝමන් වෝල්ටර්, සර් නිකුලස් ආටිගල, ඉයන් ගුණතිලක, කිරින්දේගේ මව වූ කිරින්දේ කුමාරිහාමි, බිරිය වන අයිරාංගනි කිරින්දේ, ගාමිණි කොරයා ඔහු ඇඳි විශිෂ්ට ගණයේ ආලේඛ්‍ය චිත‍්‍ර කීපයකි. මෙයින් නාරායන්ගේ ආලේඛ්‍ය චිත‍්‍රය ඔහු ඇඳි ඇත්තේ නොමිලේ ය. 1951 දි ඔහු තමාගේ ම ආලේඛ්‍ය චිත‍්‍රයක් ඇන්ඳේ ය.
1981 දි සර්වජන ඡන්ද බලයට අවුරුදු 50 ක් පිරීම නිමිත්තෙන් ‘සර්වජන ඡන්ද ක‍්‍රමය සහ කලා ශිල්ප’ නමින් විශේෂ ලිපි අතිරේකයක් පුවත්පත්වල පළවිය. එහි ‘චිත‍්‍ර ශිල්පයේ විකාශය’ ගැන වූ ලිපිය ලිවීමට ආරාධනා ලැබුණේ කිරින්දේට ය. ඒ අතිරේකය එකල ජනමාධ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම් ව සිටි ආචාර්ය සරත් අමුණුගමගේ සංකල්පයක් මත සම්පාදනය වූවකි. කිරින්දේ මෙන්ම අමුණුගම ද ති‍්‍රත්ව විද්‍යාලයේ ආදි ශිෂ්‍යයෙකි. ඔහු කිරින්දේගේ වටිනාකම දැන හඳුනාගෙන සිටියේ ය.
චිත‍්‍ර ශිල්පියකු ලෙස ස්ටැන්ලි කිරින්දේගේ සුවිශේෂ අනන්‍යතාව වන්නේ ඔහු එක පැත්තකින් බටහිර ශාස්ත‍්‍රාලීය චිත‍්‍රකලා සම්ප‍්‍රදායයෙනුත් අනිත් පැත්තෙන් අපේ පාරම්පරික බිතු සිතුවම් සම්ප‍්‍රදායයෙනුත් නොමඳ ආභාසයක් ලැබීමය. ඔහු එක සම්ප‍්‍රදායකට පමණක් කොටුවූ සිත්තරකු නොවේ. දුනුවිල ගමේ පන්සලේ විහාර සිත්තම්වලිනුත් ති‍්‍රත්ව විදුහලේ ඩේවිඩ් පේන්ටර්ගේ හා යුරෝපිය පුනරුද සමයට අයත් මයිකල් ආන්ජලෝ, ලියෝනාඩෝ ඩා වින්චි වැනි මහා සිත්තරුන්ගේ චිත‍්‍රවලිනුත් ඔහු ලද අනුප‍්‍රාණය ඔහුගේ නිර්මාණවල දැක්ක හැකි ය.
එසේ ම මධ්‍යකාලීන ඉන්දියාවේ මෝගල් චිත‍්‍ර හා අජන්තා චිත‍්‍ර සම්ප‍්‍රදායයට කිරින්දේගේ විශේෂ කැමැත්තක් වී යැයි කියන රංජිත් ලියනගේ ඔහු විසින් දිය සායමෙන් චිත‍්‍රයට නඟන ලද ‘කරණිය මෙත්ත සූත‍්‍රය’ (1989) ‘ජයමංගල ගාථා’ (1999) ‘සිංහල උඩරට වන්නම්’ (2000) ‘සැළලිහිණි සංදේශය’ දැක්වෙන චිත‍්‍ර සමූහය ඊට කදිම නිදසුන් බවත් කියයි. (කලා කෙත පෝෂණය කළ අපේ සිත්තරු - සමරු සංග‍්‍රහය 2009) කිරින්දේ ජාතක කතා පාදක කරගෙන ද, සීගිරිය පාදක කරගෙන ද චිත‍්‍රාවලියක් නිර්මාණය කර ඇත.
කිරින්දේ භාව චිත‍්‍ර (MODERN ART) ශෛලියයට එතරම් ම කැමැත්තක් නොදැක්වී ය. “මනුෂ්‍යත්වය වඩාත් ඉස්මතු කළ හැක්කේ තාත්වික රීතියේ චිත‍්‍රවලින්” යැයි ඔහු කියා ඇත. (ඉහත දැක්වෙන රංජිත් ලියනගේ ගේ ලිපිය)
කිරින්දේ ඇන්ග්ලිකන් දේවස්ථාන දෙකක සිතුවම් නිර්මාණය කර ඇත. එකක් කොළඹ බෞද්ධාලෝක මාවතේ පිහිටි ඇන්ග්ලිකන් දෙව් මැදුරේ ය. අනික කුරුණෑගල ඇන්ග්ලිකන් දෙව් මැදුෙර්ය. කොළඹ ඇන්ග්ලිකන් දෙව් මැදුරේ කිරින්දේ ඇදි බිතු සිතුවම බුදුන්වහන්සේගේ සැදැහැවත් අනුගාමිකයකු විසින් කිතු සමිඳ්‍රණන්ගේ සැදැහැවත් අනුගාමිකයන් වීමට උත්සාහයේ යෙදෙන මතු පරම්පරාවලට දායාද කරන ලද තිළිණයක් ලෙස පවතිනු ඇති බව කොළඹ කි‍්‍රස්තියානි අගරදගුරු දුලිප් චිකේරා පියනම සඳහන් කර සිටී. කිරින්දේගේ බිත්ති සිතුවම් විදේශ අමාත්‍යාංශය, ගුවන් හමුදා මූලස්ථානය, ජාතික ඉතිරි කිරීමේ බැංකුව, දියතලාව හමුදා අභ්‍යාස ආයතනය, ගාල්ල වරාය අධිකාරිය, බටලන්ද යුද හමුදා නිලධාරි පුහුණු පාසල යන ස්ථානවල දක්නා ලැබේ.
ජීවතුන් අතර සිටි ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨතම චිත‍්‍ර ශිල්පියා ස්ටැන්ලි කිරින්දේ බව ආචාර්ය තිස්ස අබේසේකර පවසා තිබුණත් අපේ චිත‍්‍රකලා සමාජයෙන් කිරින්දේට නිසි තැන ලබා දුන්නේ යැයි අවංකව කිව හැකි ද? ඔහු බුහුමනට ලක් නොවුණේ ශාස්ත‍්‍රාලීය පසුබිමකින් හා චිත‍්‍ර ශිල්පියකු නොවූ නිසා ද? හේවුඩ් සම්ප‍්‍රදායයේ චිත‍්‍ර ශිල්පියකු නොවූ නිසා ද? කිරින්දේ එක අතකට සංගීත ක්ෂේත‍්‍රයේ පේ‍්‍රමසිරි කේමදාසයන් වැන්න.
මෙහිදි මේ කලාකරුවන් දෙදෙනාගේම තවත් සමරූපතාවයක් මම දකිමි. ඒ ඔවුන් එක් කලා සම්ප‍්‍රදායකට, එක් කලා රීතියකට කොටු නොවූ කලාකරුවන් වීමය.
ස්ටැන්ලි කිරින්දේ ගේ චිත‍්‍ර නිර්මාණ රැගත් පොත් දෙකක් ඉංගිරිසි භාෂාවෙන් පළ වී ඇත. එකක් සිංහරාජ තම්මිට දෙල්ගොඩ හා කපිල ආරියනන්ද ලියු ‘ක්ලැසිකල් විෂන් : ද ආට් ඇන්ඩ් ලෑන්ඩ්ස්කේප් ඔෆ් ස්ටැන්ලි කිරින්දේ’ ය.
කිරින්දේ වෘත්තියෙන් සිවිල් නිලධාරියෙක් වූයේ ය. 1956 පරිපාලන සේවයට බැඳුණු ඔහු තම වෘත්තිය ජීවිතය ආරම්භ කළේ පොලොන්නරුව දිස්ති‍්‍රක් ඉඩම් නිලධාරියකු වශයෙනි. ඔහු විශ‍්‍රාම ගියේ 1990 දීය. ඒ වරාය හා නාවික අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් වශයෙනි. ඒ අතරතුර ඔහු වසර 17 ක්ම ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශයේ අතිරේක ලේකම් වශයෙන් කටයුතු කළේ ය.
2005 දී කිරින්දේට දේශ බන්දු සම්මානය ලැබිණි.
At long last Stanley Kirinde has been given the wide prominence that was long overdue; the introduction of the artist to everyman. This was achieved through the initiative of the late Lakshman Kadirgamar and the publication of the book: The world of Stanley Kirinde with text by SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda, photographs by Studio Times and Luxshmanan Nadaraja, designed by Nelun Harasgama Nadaraja. Stamford Lake (Pvt) Ltd undertook the publishing. The result is excellent.
The story behind the publication as told by Kirinde himself goes thus. On one of his meetings with Lakshman Kadirgamar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned that there had to be a recorded recognition of his friend’s work. He had commissioned his classmate to do paintings for him and for the State, and possessed many paintings of Kirinde’s. Stanley consented but we can be sure with no egotistic pride or the thought - so finally I am being given due recognition and wide publicity. What the artist wants to do is paint and if people appreciate his painting, well and good.
Without delay Mr. Kadirgamar convened a committee and set about obtaining funds. That was him! On considering who should do the writing, Stanley suggested Dr. Tammita -Delgoda who seemed suited to the task with his British education and great interest in the culture of Sri Lanka. In fact, Tammita-Delgoda had sought and visited Stanley after seeing his painting of Keppetipola Disawa at the SAARC exhibition in Colombo and had written a booklet on him.
The result of Mr. Kadirgamar’s initiative is the 335 paged excellent coffee table edition with many of Kirinde’s paintings magnificently reproduced. One remarkable feature is the inclusion of photographs. I wondered when glancing through the book initially how the unique combination would work out - the juxtaposition of photographs against Kirinde’s paintings. Would the former detract from the reproduced paintings? Not at all. The final result is excellent; the photographs capturing and displaying the background to Kirinde’s life and work starting from his childhood home village of Deegala to shots of Trinity College and moving on to his wife’s ancestral home in Kalawewa to views of the various stations he worked in.
Stanley Kirinde when asked this question agreed that the photographs enhanced the book rather than detracted from the main focus of the book, his art. Asked whether he approved of the text since those paintings of his which were reproduced in the book were commented on by the biographer -Tammita-Delgoda, he said he had been interviewed but had not seen the script before it was sent for publication Again the exposition of Stanley’s innate humility, which even to me, who loathes self seeking persons, seems too much. Proof reading was done by others so the book itself was "new" to him. Stanley reiterated that he had been sure SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda would do a good job, hence my question being somewhat surprising to him. His was a magnanimous reply and a reply of a true gentleman who has confidence in others, but an artist as great as he, if he was justifiably conceited, would have insisted he vets the pre- publication manuscript.
Kirinde the self effacing
person
The book mentions, in several places, the fact that Stanley Kirinde all through his life has been a very down to earth person, completely devoid of the slightest hubris and takes no pride in the fact that he is one of Sri Lanka’s most eminent artists of all time and that he has brought singular distinction to our country through his art. To this can be added his admirable qualities of being very friendly and approachable - to anyone. I suppose he has been thus to go-getters and exploiters too since he himself mentioned, quite by chance with not the slightest trace of regret or censure, that he often gifted his paintings when they were admired and when sold asked the buyer to pay what he felt like paying. "How they could exploit!" was my comment. I could not very well say how could you, since that is his nature.
Once, some time ago, at an exhibition of his work I mentioned the fact to his wife, Iranganie, that Stanley just does not promote himself, and he needs must have promotion since he is such a great artist. Ira agreed and said: "That is Stanley. Always dedicated and great but never seeks the limelight. He is happy painting or giving of himself totally to his official duties, so let him."
Very mercifully, Lakshman Kadirgamar, the magnanimous and pragmatic person, recognizing excellence when he saw it, took the initiative to bring Kirinde to the notice of all Sri Lankans and those abroad. In fact he, the Minister, had scheduled the launch of The world of Stanley Kirinde to coincide with a meeting in Colombo of Sri Lanka’s consular ambassadors so the notice of the book and thus the fame of the artist would spread globally. It was such a sorrow that the person who was truly the drive, spirit and `EBparent" of the publication was not to see the final result of his great good act. Mrs. Suganthi Kadirgamar, however, insisted the launch take place as scheduled on August 18, and the book was bought in multiple numbers by the Consuls visiting Sri Lanka.
Stanley Kirinde’s final comment on the book: "I would like to take this opportunity to pay my sincere respects to my friend, the late Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, for having taken the initiative to promote my work. And I have to commend the author Dr. Delgoda for his professionalism and attention to detail, and the others associated with the production of the book - Mr. Duminda Hulangamuwa and Mr. & Mrs. Nadaraja."
Kirinde the government servant
On my visit with my brother, a classmate of Stanley’s, to the Kirinde’s in their charming home in Battaramulla, the talk always veered to his work in government service starting as a District Land Officer (DLO) and rising to hold very important public sector posts. It was with a fair amount of dexterity that we steered the conversation to his art. He would go back to telling us how much he enjoyed his official work, specially in the outstations and very specially in Polonnaruwa which was then not the tourist centre it now is. He detailed his land kachcheri work. The love he had, and has, for the peasantry of the country was transparently apparent; so also the joy he took in promoting D S Senanayake’s concept of colonisation schemes.
"I had to work under C P de Silva, a hard minister to please but much good was done to homeless peasants. I used to have to carry lakhs to distribute to the people who were being settled in the colonisation schemes and lakhs then were equivalent to millions now. Never did we have a problem, never did I fear traveling alone with the jeep driver, carrying all that cash. Often, money was brought back to the place we lived in - a couple of other bachelor government servants and I. On such nights, depending on the amount brought to the house, we would sleep in greater numbers in my room! It was known we had the money in the house, but never did we ever have any trouble. I had to decide on the distribution of land judging the bona fides of the applicants. Not a question was raised nor a complaint made. They accepted my decisions as just." This last said as an afterthought almost. Again no trace of projecting himself as the honest public servant, serving the people with no thought for himself. That came naturally to him.
Kirinde the artist
A full word picture of Stanely Kirinde is given in the book, with concentration naturally on his work and life as a self taught, self propelled, self pleasing artist who is one of Sri Lanka’s best artists of all time by whatever criteria judgment is made. I say this boldly since this is the opinion of many and it comes through in The world of Stanley Kirinde..
I am not making a commentary on the book. I leave it to readers of this column to go through the publication and read the text - extremely well written with the stages of the developing artist and his style documented, and comments on each of the paintings reproduced in the book. I am here writing what I gathered from talking with Stanley and Iranganie last Monday evening, with sheets of rain beating down and flowers in their garden shaking the water off before they were completely rain ruined.
I will make no comment on Kirinde’s artistic style and artistic achievements since I have no competence whatsoever to write on such matters. My interest is in the human being who came to draw, sketch and paint so marvelously.
Question: Is there any incident that really propelled you to draw. You must have had the gene, lurking within you but what brought it out, if such a bringing out was wrought.
Kirinde’s answer: Yes, there was a push, as it were. My mother used to go often to temple and take me with her. I used to gaze at the paintings on the temple walls and marvel at them. I never tired of looking at them. Once home I used to draw things that stuck in my mind. I drew in my sister’s and cousins" books, much to their horror and reprimanding me, and of course on the walls and any surface I could get my hands on. My father then started bringing me a drawing book and pencil every evening when he returned from work. This was at age 6 or so when painting became what I liked to do best.
Question: Has Buddhism had a great influence on your work as an artist?
Answer: Yes, the Jataka stories, for one. The history of the country, its culture, historical places, villagers, the peasantry have all been of interest to me as an artist. As a Sri Lankan I paint pictures of Sri Lanka. Just consider the military dexterity of a leader such as Konappu Bandara who led the Portuguese on their retreat from Kandy, due to lack of supplies, to a marshland in Danture, where they were bogged in and defeated.
Questions: When do you paint best, any special time? Have you, do you experience the equivalent of writers block; do you need inspiration to get down to painting?
Answer: I paint at all times. I used to come home from work when I was employed and would go almost immediately to a canvas I was working on. Now retired, I can paint whenever I feel like it. No never do I need that sudden inspiration and I never feel I cannot paint. Of course an idea comes to mind, I mull over it and then transfer it to paper or canvas.
Question: During the war years and at times when foreign exchange problems curtailed imports, how did you manage with finding what you needed?
Answer: I innovated and improvised. For instance when I could not afford canvas or it was not available I used good gunny sack - jute hessian, even long cloth. I made a primer mixing zinc white, gum and linseed oil. This David Paynter taught me. I covered the gunny or cloth with this and it was as good as expensive canvas. When my paint brushes wore out, I removed the remaining bristles, and inserted into the metal part in the still good stick carefully extracted bristles from a shaving brush and trimmed them to size. These were dirt cheap and still very good!
Question: I feel diffident to ask about your styles of painting, how they developed etc since I know next to nothing.
Answer: Most definitely I was influenced, say by the Renaissance painters, not by modern art even of the 19th and early 20th centuries. I have been influenced by Indian art and I do love their miniature painting. It is so refined, beautiful and decorative too. I have done many in that style. The miniature style is ideal for painting Buddhist themes. But my painting is my style. I paint as I want to. I do not have a real nationalistic outlook either. That is an outdated word. I have the self respect of the artist. That is very important. There is no self respect in imitation. Art must be refined. There is grandeur too.
Questions: Is there opportunity for artists to ‘’develop’ in this country? What do you think of these kala polas?
Answer: Yes, artists can progress and there is such a lot of talent. But they must develop initiative and not be purely imitative. When I was a visiting lecturer at the Kelaniya University department of aesthetic studies, I found that for most students abstract art and cubism were THE thing. I asked them to study Indian miniatures. One timidly told me that that was not what they were taught or encouraged to do, meaning being resourceful in style and developing their own. . I have not been to a kala pola so cannot comment.
Question: How did it come about that you were invited to paint the portrait of the President of India, K R Narayanan?
Answer: I really don’t know how. Maybe it was because the portrait I did of Ian Goonetilake was photographed by Ian and copies sent to his friends and acquaintances all over the world. Maybe the Indian President was shown a copy. Also maybe he wanted a non-Indian to do his official portrait.
(You can discern here the self effacing artist totally lacking in hubris. Anyone else but Stanley would have said: "Since he recognized me as the artist I am", or even " He recognized my ability."
It was in 2000 that I suddenly got a message that the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka wanted to meet me and would visit us. We had just moved to this house. So Mr. Shiv Shankar Menon did arrive one evening and stunned me with the news that H E the President wanted me to paint his portrait, and that all arrangements would be made to take me and my wife to India and host us in New Delhi. It was a wonderful ten days we spent there, staying at the Ashok Hotel and being taken around to Agra and other places, since the President was busy and could not give me a sitting soon after we arrived. He was such a gracious man. He gave me a letter of thanks, personally written by him, which added: "I hope while doing my portrait you would not follow the tradition of making it too solemn and grave. If you can introduce a smile, I will appreciate it."
Comment from the other Trinitian present: Your restoring the Trinity chapel paintings was another great job.
Answer: Yes, it was good to be back in College. David Paynter’s paintings are marvelous. Some did not need much touching up, those in the main middle section, since they were not too affected by any water seeping through the stone during rainy weather.
My next questions were to Ira Kirinde.
Question: Did you know the man proposed in marriage to you was also an artist or only that he was a top government servant?
Answer: Yes, and I did not mind it
(Which was drowned with Stanley saying she did not know at all about the art side. Those days if one were an artist, it was a disqualification in marriage, even life.)
Question: Have you had to cope with your husband being an artist? Is your life very different from any other housewife’s?
Answer : (very shyly). Yes I did have to sort of cope when he got engrossed in his painting. But he has been very good to me - gives me complete freedom and allows me to have my friends and go about with them.
That was the perfect end to a most gratifying evening of talking with Stanley Kirinde and Iranganie Ratwatte Kirinde. Here is a devoted-to-each-other couple, now devoted to their grandchildren, and the wife completely tolerant and supportive of her husband’s devotion to art, not bothered much about making money, which wives are more conscious of usually.
A fervent hope that they have very many more years of being together with serenity and good health, and much more sketching and painting for Stanley.
Stanley Wikramasinha Kirinde
S.M Wikramsinha Kirinde (Stanley)(Born 24 April 1930, passed away on 12 February 2009, aged 79)
For many years a greatly-admired Member of South Asia’s art Society, S.M. Wikramsinha Kirinde (Stanley) was a painter of blazing integrity. He had a remarkable grasp of the great interweaving movements in the history of painting and drawing, and a wonderfully thorough technical knowledge. With the help of his contemporary friends, Professors Bruse Matthews and Edgar Borrows his work is in important collections, in several parts of the world.
A gifted civil servant who worked for the government of Ceylon (later known as Srilanka) and a painter of admirable quality, worked to the highest standards and was ne
ver superficial, he believed that many recent movements in art were meretricious, and that almost all the great organisations that make up the present art Establishment in the South Asia had sold out to 
fallacious vacuities, which encouraged theories that had no real content. This may appear to some as a reactionary stance, but he was a man of great liveliness of mind. He was sometimes irascible, and although I almost always rather enjoyed that aspect of his personality it certainly offended some people.Though not personally ambitious, towards the end of his life he felt under-appreciated, though he was honoured with a title very late in his life. It was partly because of this, and partly because of his health, that he decided to spend his final years in (Ceylon) Srilanka after his retirement from the government service - instead of settling down in India where he would have been better off, the country where his ancestors from Punjab originated from. Though Kirinde (Stanley) didn't want to live in India he loved India to the fullest. India is always in my heart and in my mind he used to say. Kirinde’s (Stanley) knowledge of the legendry Indian epics like Srimad Bhagavatham, Maha Bharatha, Ram
ayanya and Bhagavad Gita were tremendous. The style of his works of art was based on the explanations of these legendry epics. Rabindranath Tagore was his favourite and cherished the lyrics and the tune of the Indian national anthem. During his relaxing moments Stanley used to contemplate on Kalidasa’s poems.“He was a lovely man: is invariably the initial response of anyone you ask who knew him and he was, civilised, genteel, kind and enormously generous with his encouragement for those of who are following in his wake. Quietly – spoken, Kirinde (Stanley) may have been, but as his core was a steely determination. Spending time every morning stressing the sheer joy of painting and how lucky artists are; words of praise for something of theirs seen on his travels, “You are painting so well, I am glad. It encourages me to try harder!” Similarly self-deprecating small confidences about the difficulty of achieving financial success, just in case others were downcast about their own exhibitions. In the febrile world of dog eat artistic dog this appeared almost saintly.
On more than one occasion Kirinde (Stanley) dominate prize-giving panels. He would make up his mind at the start then sit and wait through the hours of argy-bargy until the other equally distinguished members of the panel came round to his way of thinking. That they did so quite genuinely proved the validity of his judgement; that the winners espoused a style of painting not dissimilar to his own was perhaps testament to his teaching and influence. He stood for comeliness. Well over half a century S.M.Wikramsinha Kirinde (Stanley), like his masters before him, elevated demonstrations of painterly technique over artistic theories. Students at the university where Kirinde lectured were encouraged to paint the illusion of subjects physically. From his earliest years at the South Asian art league, Kirinde (Stanley) investigated techniques and mediums used by Indian and Persian artists in the 16th and 17th centuries. In close collaboration with Srilanka painters, Mr.George Keyt, Mr.David Paynter and Mr.Harold Peris; Kirinde (Stanley) sought to rediscover and apply lost technical working methods. Such investigations further alerted Kirinde (Stanley) to the nature of injuries being unwittingly inflicted on paintings in the post independence era got into “modernising” art restoration frenzy. Kirinde (Stanley) also executed many artistic commissions. One of the most important came in 2000, with the help of a close associate, Mr. J.N. Dixit the influential former high commissioner of India to Colombo and later India’s foreign secretary’s recommendation, when the Indian government commissioned him to paint the portrait of the Indian president K.R. Narayan. This excellent piece of art work is exhibited in the official presidential residence, Rashtrapathi Bhavan in India. This execution helped Kirinde (Stanley) to enhance an international reputation as a portrait painter. Kirinde’s views on restoration testified to a rare artistic insight and humility: “As artists we know that a fine oil painting does not possess a hard impermeable surface, but that it is comprised of layers of ground pigments, suspended in elastic films of various oils and varnishes which are superimposed, interwoven, and melting into each other in a way which not even the artist can accurately map. In spite of what conservators would have us believe, science cannot objectively scrutinise a painting and accurately enumerate all of its components in any meaningful way; a plain chemical analysis is too crude a tool to measure the ineffable.” Its little surprise, perhaps, that his instructions to his students should have captivated and inspired generations of students over the course 30 years.
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