He's off on a painterly flight

A photographic exhibition of the work of Dr. M.S. Weerakone will be held from January 29 - 31 at the Lionel Wendt Gallery. This is his eighth one-man show.

Weerakone who started photography while at Medical College says he was strongly influenced by Lionel Wendt. A lover of nature, he says he is now moving from photographic exactitude to 'painterly flight.'

"It was my father who opened my eyes to the beautiful countryside where we resided.

"Its mist-draped hills, the deep silent valleys and fields, the lofty majestic trees and the quiet murmuring streams are still my favourite subjects.

"A borrowed camera (and borrowed cash too) tempted me to record my childhood impressions but at the wrong time (when at Medical College).

He was the painter with the witty light-hearted touch

An exhibition on the life and works of Dutch artist Jan Steen (1626- 1679) will be held at the Dutch Burgher Union Hall, Colombo 4 from Jan. 31 to February 4.

Rembrandt and Vermeer are the most celebrated Dutch artists of the 17th century, but the Dutch are no less proud of Jan Steen, the painter with the witty, light-hearted touch. His cheerfully anarchic domestic scenes are probably the best known. But Steen was an accomplished painter of other subjects as well, and there is also a serious side to his work.

Jan Steen was born in Leiden in 1626. Little is known about his training, but he may have been apprenticed to Nicolaus Knupfer and then to Adriaen van Ostade. In any event, Steen is known to have worked in The Hague for some time. He may have studied with the landscape painter Jan Van Goyen, whose daughter he married. Steen lived in Delft, Leiden and Warmond at various stages of his life.

He spent the most productive years of his career in Haarlem, from 1660 to 1670.

He finally returned to Leiden in 1670 and remained there until his death in 1679. Besides being a well -respected painter, Steen was also a brewer and innkeeper for several years.

More Plus * Kala Korner

Return to the Plus Contents