Kirinde's moments in history

By Renuka Sadanandan

So wrote Indian President R.K. Narayanan to Lankan painter Stanley Kirinde after the two had met in Rashtrapathi Bhavan. With his characteristic modesty, Kirinde relates how former Indian High Commissioner Shiv Shankar Menon visited his home one August day last year to invite him to paint the President's portrait. Kirinde and his wife Iranganie were then hosted to what he describes as a 'beautiful' ten-day trip in India during which he also met the President. 

It was no formal audience. "He was very friendly, quite chatty," Kirinde recalls. "He showed me round the gardens at Rashtrapathi Bhavan, and the many portraits of past leaders, all of which were rather solemn." Kirinde asked for a photograph of the chair in the President's impressive office and also did a quick sketch. 

Back home, Kirinde had the portrait completed and handed over to the Indian High Commission in two months. It portrays the Indian President in his office with the Rashtrapathi Bhavan in the backdrop. And yes, he is smiling, ever so slightly. That portrait of a head of state was yet another first in Stanley Kirinde's illustrious career. He has painted many over the years, from the first commission he received while yet a Kandy schoolboy. Notable among them are those of his wife, one of which hangs prominently in their home. "I am particularly fond of painting human figures in various situations," he says.

Best known as an artist in the classical mould, Kirinde's love for art flourished side by side with his distinguished career in the civil service. Too young to be a member of the Group of '43, Kirinde nevertheless is highly regarded amongst the next generation. Something of a child prodigy, his talent was nurtured at school (Trinity College) and through early recognition by the Ceylon Society of Arts. As a young man he had the good fortune of being befriended by the likes of George Keyt, Harry Peiris, Richard Gabriel and David Paynter.

Whilst perhaps best known for his hauntingly sensitive landscapes, among Kirinde's personal favourites are works that have a historical background.

He did History honours at Peradeniya, which perhaps explains why the subject never lost its fascination for him. Asked by Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar to do a painting for the Foreign Ministry, Kirinde chose to depict the visit of four ambassadors from Ceylon to the court of Augustus Caesar. "I was thinking of a suitable theme when I remembered that this visit was documented both in the Mahawamsa and Roman records and in the History of Ceylon account by Nicholas and Paranavitana," he says.

The painting, a large one, done in three panels, the central one showing the ambassadors, and the two sides, the Roman court and scenes of Ceylon, now occupies pride of place in the Foreign Ministry.
Less seen is another impressive historical painting, this time a battle scene which Kirinde executed for the Army Staff College at Makola in 1998. It was the tradition here that each batch of officers passing out would gift some memento to the College and the officers of Course 1, '98 asked Kirinde for a painting. Seeing one of his earlier works the Battle of Danture, done for a private collection, they were keen to have the same, having apparently studied this battle as one of the signal victories by a Sinhalese king over foreign invaders. Kirinde painted the scene again, giving it a bluer hue this time. In his hands, the epic battle in which Wimaladharmasuriya routed the Portuguese general Lopez de Souza at Danture in 1594, comes alive in vivid detail, milling with figures, Bible Rock in the distance. 

"This kind of historical paintings are normally not done now but I find they give you room to work in great detail. When the subject is fairly complex, it allows you to go deeper into it for a long, long time," he explains. 

Little known is the fact that Kirinde has also done two very large mosaics, both of military significance. The first was a request from the Army Training College in Diyatalawa in 1980 where he chose to do a mosaic, having seen them in books on art. He went in search of his raw material to the Ceramics Corporation at Piliyandala and returned with five gunny bags full of broken ceramic bits. "In those days, the substandard stuff was broken up and discarded, no one wanted it," he smiles. " They had mountains of it, huge piles, with grass growing on it in some places, but you could dig and take what you wanted."

Making a scale drawing, Kirinde worked with a skilled mason baas who faithfully stuck the tiny bits onto the charcoal sketch they had done on the unplastered wall. The mason's job was to use the artist's watercolour sketch as his guide and try to get as close to the colours as possible. It was painstaking work, Kirinde recalls. But he enjoyed it and would often go to Diyatalawa to work on the mural himself. The theme was again a battle scene, Keppetipola overcoming a British battalion. "I thought it appropriate since this battle was fought in the Uva hills and the military academy is in Uva too," he says.

Years later, in 1999 when the Kotelawala Defence Academy made their request for a work for their Mess building, he chose a mosaic again, because the wall was open to the elements. This was inspired by the Chulakalinga Jataka story where the powerful king of Kalinga is defeated by the underdog, the king of Kotali, despite astrological predictions to the contrary. It illustrated many principles that Kirinde found apt, most importantly, the value of thorough discipline, military discipline at that. 

"I'd like to do more mosaics, but physically it's taxing. Maybe, if I was younger..." he smiles.

Art for this scholarly, soft-spoken man is no mere hobby or pleasurable pastime. He finds deep fulfilment in his work, ever seeking to explore different styles. He is now working on a series of small watercolours based on the Selalihini Sandeshaya, each picture depicting a scene, accompanied by the corresponding stanza. 

So, does he paint in a disciplined fashion? No, he says. Sometimes for weeks, he will not touch a brush, then suddenly there is feverish activity. "Once I start, it goes on and on for weeks and there is a lull." But for this prolific artist, it seems the lulls are few. 

More Plus

Return to Plus Contents