"Sri Lankan photographer Lionel WENDT’s (1900-1944) choice of subject was eclectic: from sensual and homo-erotic portraits to tropical images of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and from picturesque scenes to compositions for which he used modernistic stylistic devices and experimental techniques.
After his premature death in 1944 his negatives were destroyed, but his prints resurfaced in the 1990s, and are now part of several international private and museums collections.
In 2017 WENDT’s work has been exhibited at Documentary 14 in Athens, and from June 10 till September 3 a large scale retrospective will take place in the summer of 2017 at Huis Marseille Museum for Photography in Amsterdam." (publisher's note)
About the photographer, Lionel WENDT (1900-1944):
Lionel WENDT (3 December 1900 – 19 December 1944) was a Ceylon pianist, photographer, literature collector, critic, and cinematographer. WENDT was a founder member of the Colombo '43 Group of Sri Lankan artists and along with George Keyt and Harold Peiris is also known for his efforts to popularise Kandyan dance and other Sri Lankan dance forms.
The Lionel Wendt Art Centre is a major art centre and theatre in Colombo, Sri Lanka, dedicated to his memory. WENDT's friend and poet Pablo NERUDA wrote in his memoirs that WENDT "was the central figure of a cultural life torn between the death rattles of the Empire and a human appraisal of the untapped values of Ceylon."
After his premature death in 1944 his negatives were destroyed, but his prints resurfaced in the 1990s, and are now part of several international private and museums collections.
In 2017 WENDT’s work has been exhibited at Documentary 14 in Athens, and from June 10 till September 3 a large scale retrospective will take place in the summer of 2017 at Huis Marseille Museum for Photography in Amsterdam." (publisher's note)
About the photographer, Lionel WENDT (1900-1944):
Lionel WENDT (3 December 1900 – 19 December 1944) was a Ceylon pianist, photographer, literature collector, critic, and cinematographer. WENDT was a founder member of the Colombo '43 Group of Sri Lankan artists and along with George Keyt and Harold Peiris is also known for his efforts to popularise Kandyan dance and other Sri Lankan dance forms.
The Lionel Wendt Art Centre is a major art centre and theatre in Colombo, Sri Lanka, dedicated to his memory. WENDT's friend and poet Pablo NERUDA wrote in his memoirs that WENDT "was the central figure of a cultural life torn between the death rattles of the Empire and a human appraisal of the untapped values of Ceylon."
- Ed(s)/Author(s)
- Shanay Jhaveri, Stephan Sanders, Nicky van Banning
- Book design
- Hans GREMMEN
- Format
- Linen bound HC (no dust jacket, as issued), 16 × 22 cm., 224 p., more than 140 color ills., English