Geoffrey Beling:

Painter who gave up painting

by Tissa HEWAVITARANE

Geoffrey Beling was born on 21 September, 1907. He went to India 1926 to study architecture at the same school (J.J. School of Art, Bombay). He found the opportunity to study art. He returned to Sri Lanka in 1928 and started an art school in Havelock Town, Colombo. On May 1941 Beling married. Edith Marian Angela Deutrom and had four children. Beling was close associate of C.F. Winzer, an inspector of art in schools at that time.

After Winzer left the island Beling assumed duties as Child Inspector of art in schools. Beling was indeed the father of art education in the primary and secondary schools of modern Sri Lanka.

Geoffrey Beling also had a great admiration of the talents of children. He encouraged and spread widely the old idea that children should be allowed to paint free of adult prejudice and sophistication. The highly regarded method of art education was known as free expression. He introduced an exercise in what was called free expression in teaching art to children. This was a method which attempted to draw out from the child his own, aesthetic abilities, sense of beauty, and his own appreciation of colour by releasing the child from the drudgery of such mechanical devices as perspectives.

The children and students of art are given the freedom to think, make choices and form their own ideas and options and grow aesthetically, intellectually, perceptually, emotionally and socially making them well integrated and well balanced personalities. As a child grows in awareness and self knowledge to get into the discipline of the craft, his mind should be given wings on which to fly and soar above the mundane.

He guided the development of art education in our country from the time he took over as inspector of art in schools from C.F. Winzer in 1932.

Geffrey's paintings were simple austere and fundamentally architectural whether in landscapes or still life. The forms he used were placed carefully to create a unity and a balance between disparate objects. Colours too were sombre, clear and fresh. His figures are more angular and their movementless varied. Beling's landscapes are admirably constructed and his handling of the endless variety of greens in tropical nature is an achievement in itself. The easiest to appreciate are the landscapes. They were arrangement of great masses, some what abstract. Each exercise presented a new image. Beling displayed a superb mastery of his craft. His paintings are vigorous. Beling's composition remained thoroughly formal. It was evidence of his enormous talents.

Principles of art are not light and shade, perspective and naturalistic representation or photographic realism which even a camera can obtain, but rhythm, pattern, design, decorative quality, harmony and unity, these qualities may be part of the earliest symbolic work.

Resources for the pursuit of all the arts was quite unorthodox in appearance, but miraculous in performance.

Melbourne art classes for children and adults were the product of Beling's teaching,where he employed the methods he advocated and enjoyed his blessings. It has produced many young and excellent artists of whom were in association with 43 group. Towards the end he gave up painting and became a paster. He died on 9 March, 1992.

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