Lionel de Fonseka explained

Lionel de Fonseka or Fonseka-Varnasuriya (born 27 October 1889^[1]) was a Sinhalese writer and art critic, best known for On the Truth of Decorative Art (1912).

Life

Lionel de Fonseka was educated at Royal College, Colombo and Oxford University,^{[1] [2]} where he knew Alain Locke.^[3] De la Verité dans l'art - subsequently translated into English as On the Truth of Decorative Art (1912) - argued against the corruption of Sinhalese art by Western influence:

In his text, Fonseka argued for the inherent superiority of 'Eastern' over 'Western' art, owing to its use of symbolic form as a reflection of a larger civilisation rather than an individual artist.^[4] According to his nephew, de Fonseka wrote the book "primarily to satisfy his father, that he was using his time to good purpose".^[5] However, the book is said to have influenced Ananda Coomaraswamy, Eric Gill and Romain Rolland.^[6]

In April 1913 Fonseka, Arthur Ransome, Coomaraswamy, Anthony Ludovici and Lascelles Abercrombie entered into controversy in the Academy over who had priority in using the phrase "Art for life's sake".^[7] De Fonseka entered into fashionable London life, attending a King's Levée at Buckingham Palace on 3 June 1913.^[8]

De Fonseka subsequently lived and worked in France and Belgium for over a decade. He donated a gold chalice to Bruges Cathedral. After a pilgrimage to Fátima, Portugal, he wrote an account of the Marian apparitions believed to have taken place at Cova da Iria.^[9]

Working as a barrister in Ceylon,^[1] Fonseka was a contributor to the Daily News there,^[10] as well as writing a weekly column for the Ceylon Catholic Messenger.

Works

• De la verité dans l'art, Paris, 1912. Translated as On the Truth of Decorative Art: A Dialogue between an Oriental and an Occidental, London: Greening, 1912.^[11] Published with an introduction by Ananda Coomaraswamy in 1913.
• 'China Sunday!', The New Age, vol. 13, no. 1 (1 May 1913), p. 9.
• 'Futurism in Food', The New Age, vol. 13. no. 6 (5 June 1913), pp. 148–149.
• 'The White Dancer', The New Age, vol. 14. no. 3 (20 November 1913), pp. 76–78.
• 'A Thinking Man', The New Age, vol. 14. no. 8 (25 December 1913), pp. 238–9.
• 'War and the Aesthete', The New Age, vol. 16, no. 9 (31 December 1914), pp. 216–17.
• 'The Karave Flag', Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register, Vol. Ill, Part I (July, 1921), pp. 1–11.
• Les eaux de lumière: dialogue entre un Oriental et un Occidental (The waters of life: dialogue between an oriental and an occidental), Monaco: Éditions de Fontvieille, 1953.

Notes and References

1. Ceylon, its history, people, commerce, industries and resources, 1924, p.28.
2. Book: Levens. R.G.C.. Merton College Register 1900–1964. 1964. Basil Blackwell. Oxford. 57.
3. Jeffrey Green, Alain Locke, black Rhodes Scholar at Oxford 1907-1910
4. Cohen . Joshua I. . Harlem and Abroad: Notes to an International 'Renaissance' . Wasafiri . 2019 . 34 . 3 . 43 . 10.1080/02690055.2019.1613012 . 202363248 .
5. Web site: De la Verité dans l'Art . 2013-01-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110820111750/http://www.defonseka.com/pe0016.htm . 2011-08-20 . dead .
6. Book: Charles A. Gunawardena. Encyclopedia Of Sri Lanka. 22 January 2013. 2005. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 978-1-932705-48-5. 104.
7. "Art for Life's Sake", The Manchester Guardian, 26 April 1913.
8. 'The King's Levée', The Times, 3 June 1913
9. Web site: Les eaux de lumière . 2013-01-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110824025142/http://www.defonseka.com/pe0012.htm . 2011-08-24 . dead .
10. 'Well-known contributors of the past', Daily News, 12 March 2012.
11. Reviewed by John Middleton Murry, Rhythm, No. IX (1912), pp.233-4.