1900-1944

Lionel Wendt was born in Colombo, Ceylon (pre-independent Sri Lanka) and studied in England at Cambridge (law) and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Though he practiced law and taught and performed piano, he ultimately pursued a career in photography. Wendt was dedicated to the well being of his country and was a founding member of the Colombo '43 Group of Sri Lankan artists. Sadly he died a year after it was founded. One cannot help to imagine what other remarkable art he would have created had he lived a longer life. Wendt's work has a strong modernist aesthetic but his subject matter ranged from figurative to still life to almost ethnographic imagery. He also contributed to the development of modern art in his country by sharing prints of contemporary European artists and books from England with aspiring artists and writing critically.