Ismeth Raheem at ARTRA Magazine’s Launch of the Laki Senanayake Edition & Art Experiential Festival ‘Laki’s Artistic Expressions & Influences’; An intimate tour of the iconic handrail of Jetwing Lighthouse by Laki Senanayake on the afternoon of the 5th of March, 2023

Laki was among the most intelligent of the artists of his day. I continued to find his company stimulating and rewarding, that I used to visit him at his studio in Dambulla till the day he dies. Laki was a self-taught artist, painter and sculptor. He believed that any formal training course will only stifle his approach to work, and thus the years spent will be largely a waste of time. He even went to the extreme of expressing his views as far as his studies at Royal College, Colombo where he was not only bored, but he had little to gain from such an education. When Ulrik Plesner offered to have Laki trained in Denmark, Laki turned this offer down as formal, organized course of training was not for him. Probably from the notion that both Picasso and Le Corbusier had no formal education either in art or architecture, which was not strictly true. During his years at Edwards Reid and Begg, Architects of which Geoffrey Bawa was the Senior Partner, Laki was by far the most indispensable assistant draftsman who executed several of Geoffrey’s early architectural projects in translating the latter’s concepts as working drawings for constructions at site. This was the same with the works of art that were requested by Bawa for many of his hotel projects. Geoffrey in a sense was his most important patron, but far more a demanding one. Nonetheless, Laki’s work reached a wider audience expressing ideas of his own.

I had the fortune and privileged position of knowing Laki from our schooldays when we both exhibited at the Royal College Art Circle exhibitions. The school had a great reputation for producing artists and architects from the 1840s.  Several of the ‘43 Group artists were at one or another, either students or later teachers of art. Both Laki and I were members of the Young Artist Group, which had a studio space allocated to the artists in 1960.

From 1962, I was regularly in the company of Geoffrey Bawa and Ulrik Plesner largely due to the influence of Laki Senanayake, and thereafter, continued to be in regular touch with him till he passed away. We both contributed to Bawa’s projects as architectural assistants as well as painters, and sculptors for the interiors of the firm and the buildings designed by the architect. Thus, I believe I am well placed to analyze and assess his output of work.

During his early days, Laki worked as a draughtsman in two leading architectural firms in Colombo, which were more of a necessity than of a choice. But when he moved to the architectural firm of Edwards Reid & Begg in 1959, Laki found it more exciting to be an understudy of both architects Geoffrey Bawa and Ulrik Plesner who were already employed in the same office. Bawa had then returned from England an year before as a fully qualified architect of the Royal Institute of British Architects and Plesner, was then a graduate from the Royal Danish Academy. During his career at ER&B, Laki had several roles both as draughtsman as well as an in-house artist. As early as 1962, Laki produced a lead and glass sculpture which adorned Bawa’s table at office.

Laki was influenced by Australian artist Donald Friend to a very large extent. Laki encountered Donald during the latter’s stay at Bevis Bawa’s Brief in Bentota and this meeting between the two artists left an impressionable mark on the younger Laki. In his earlier works, Laki used post-impressionist and impressionist techniques but after inspiration from Donald, he directed his work more towards realism away from cubism and abstract expressionism.

Donald Friend, 1958

Laki Senanayake, 1960 - 61

Laki played a significant role in designing and modeling the artwork whether it was a painting or a sculpture to virtually, every project Bawa designed from a domestic residence from 1963 to the National Parliament in 1990. Geoffrey Bawa exerted a significant role in Laki’s career as an artist. His largest and most significant commissions were largely due to Geoffrey Bawa’s patronage and clients. Under Geoffrey’s guidance and request, Laki was compelled to approach a more methodical and a deliberate approach to his work, often scrutinized by the critical eye of the architect. After a few years, he found the work too tedious and restrictive on his imagination and moved on to work in Batik in a firm that he and Ena de Silva established.

Ronald Lewcock’s book on Laki stands out as a detailed work that gives a thorough account of his work and career. Perplexingly, both Bandaranayke and Dharmasiri’s publication ‘Sri Lankan Painting in the 20th Century’ (2009) ignores Laki’s role in the history of contemporary painting. Curiously, we have no way of explaining the absence of Laki’s contribution to the development of art in Sri Lanka.

Edited by Azara Jaleel 

Imagery from ARTRA Magazine’s Launch of the Laki Senanayake Edition & Art Experiential Festival ‘Laki’s Artistic Expressions & Influences’; An intimate tour of the iconic handrail of Jetwing Lighthouse by Laki Senanayake by Ismeth Raheem on the afternoon of the 5th of March, 2023