If you wish to appreciate a natural talent in art which reveals a great deal of finesse and style then make sure you are at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery on March 3 and 4 for the Plein – Air Exhibition 2020 by Ifthikar Cader.
Today, he needs no introduction to his style of painting which is well recognised and is a household name in the world of art. Known both in Sri Lanka andglobally for his paintings Ifthikar Cader has always been inspired by nature and the end result is picture perfect.
From Water colours, he moved to working with oils and has always been fascinated and inspired by the styles of Vincent Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gaugin and Richard Schmid.
In his young days his love for sport strangely played a huge role, before he steered away from it and moved into the world of art.
His travels around the art world, his education in the UK according to him, influenced his style of painting. Capturing scenery wherever he was and transferring it to canvas was his greatest love and quite naturally Sri Lanka his motherland never failed to inspire him.
It could be a flower, it could be the jungle, it could be a winding road, it could be a flowing river – all of these which he sees in a different eye and what might be a beautiful lasting memory is captured on canvas and seen forever. His brush strokes says it all.His passion for painting gives him solace and satisfaction in hisday to day routine. But the excitement comes when he gets an opportunity to join his family to the jungles and outstations where locations for painting from nature is in abundance, or where he could capture more scenic moments which would materialise as his future paintings. Ifthikar Cader’s professional career began in 1995 and since then after his first exhibition in 1996 he has had more than 14 exhibitions both here and abroad.
Self taught, his inspiration has never failed him throughout his journey of picture painting.