Rendez-Vous with Yasmin and Kumar this month features the work of Jayantha Premachandra, one of Sri Lanka’s internationally recognised artists who spent the last years of his life, living and painting in Paris.
Born in 1935, Jayantha Premachandra’s creative output extended across canvasses, mosaics, batik motifs, murals, line drawings and lots more, all of them appealing to a worldwide audience.
His work has been exhibited in many countries across the world including France, the former USSR, West Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Finland and Sri Lanka.
He was, in fact, the first Sri Lankan to hold a solo exhibition at both the National Museum of Modern Art in Baghdad, Iraq and at the Ksiazki Gallery in Ghuery Olsztyn, Poland.
Nilanka Premachandra Nilaweera, his daughter joins the show and talks about her father’s artistic life in Paris and the sources of his inspiration. Dr. Sarath Amunugama, a friend of the artist talks about the socially-conscious humanist in Premachandra and his lasting contribution to the world of art.
The show closes with a visit to Montmartre, the large hill in the 18th district of Paris primarily known for its artistic history and the white-domed Basilica of the Sacre-Coeur on its summit.
During the Belle Epoque, towards the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th,, many artists lived, worked, or had studios in or around Montmartre. Among them were Modigliani, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, Picasso, Pissaro, Van Gogh to name just a few.
Artists have immortalised the celebrated windmill – Moulin de la Galette and the most notable is Renoir’s festive painting, ‘Bal du Moulin de la Galette’. Le Moulin de la Galette in Montmartre represented a welcome diversion for Parisians seeking entertainment, a glass of wine, and bread made from flour ground by the windmill.
The Place du Tertre square atop the hill bustles with many artists who set up their easels each day, from dawn to dusk, through all seasons of the year, making it a major tourist attraction in Paris.
All this and lots more on Rendez-Vous with Yasmin and Kumar on Saturday 30th April at 19h (Sri Lanka time) on the YouTube channel of the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.