Charles Henry D. Freegrove Winzer (1886–1940) was a British painter and lithographer. He lived in Paris, and was interned by Germany in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Afterwards, he worked in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, until retirement to Vienna. He is widely regarded as a leading light in the introduction of

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...

to Sri Lanka.

Early life

Winzer was born in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 1886 to Leonie Mary (née Lesser) and Julius Charles Winzer, a British diplomat of German descent, and was educated there and in London. He moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he became a close friend of

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

Career

From 1909 he exhibited at the in Paris. His "distraught sketches" were exhibited alongside the work of the

Camden Town Group The Camden Town Group was a group of English Post-Impressionist artists founded in 1911 and active until 1913. They gathered frequently at the studio of painter Walter Sickert in the Camden Town area of London. History In 1908, critic Frank ...

at the Carfax Gallery in 1912. He had a solo exhibition at the Ashnur Gallery in 1914. His sister, Alice, married his friend and fellow artist, the German Götz von Seckendorff. In 1914, during

, Seckendorff was killed in action. Winzer, who at the time was living in Paris and working for the

French Red Cross The French Red Cross (), or the CRF, is the national Red Cross Society in France founded in 1864 and originally known as the ''Société française de secours aux blessés militaires'' (SSBM). Recognized as a public utility since 1945, the Frenc ...

, applied for permission to visit Alice in Germany, which the military authorities there granted. However, he was detained while attempting to leave Germany, and was interned at

Ruhleben internment camp Ruhleben internment camp was a civilian detention camp in Germany during World War I. It was located in Ruhleben, a former ''Folwark, Vorwerk'' manor to the west of Berlin. This area is now split between the districts of Spandau and Charlotten ...

. While there, he provided illustrations for the camp magazine. From 1920, he served as Inspector of Art in the Education Department of the Government of Ceylon (now

). In 1928, he founded the Ceylon Art Club. In 1930, his paintings were included in the ''Beling and Keyt Exhibition'' in Colombo, featuring work by

George Keyt George Percival Sproule Keyt, (17 April 1901 – 31 July 1993) was a Sri Lankan painter.Geoffrey Beling, who were his pupils. After retiring from his role in Ceylon, in 1932, he settled in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. During his artistic career, he also worked in Morocco, Spain, India, and Nepal.

Death and legacy

Music for Ganesha - Charles Freegrove Winzer

Winzer died at

Warneford Hospital The Warneford Hospital is a hospital providing mental health services at Headington in east Oxford, England. It is managed by the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital opened as the Oxford Lunatic Asylum in July 1826. It was ...

, Oxford, on 19 February 1940. The following year, ''The Winzer Memorial Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings'' took place at Colombo Art Gallery. His works are in numerous collections including several

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

s from Ruhleben, now in the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

collection. His 1929 oil painting, ''Music for Ganesha'' (or ''Hymne a Ganesha''), is in the

National Museum Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, to whom it was donated by Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar in 1930. ''Buffaloes and Woman Bathing'' (1932, lithograph) is in the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

, Cambridge. His portrait in oils of Sir Horace Edmund Avory is owned by Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge. Numerous sources credit him as having played a large part in introducing modern art to Ceylon/Sri Lanka, not least through his influence on the "

43 Group The 43 Group was a British anti-fascist group set up by Jewish ex-servicemen after the Second World War. They did this when, upon returning to London, they encountered British fascist organisations such as Jeffrey Hamm's British League of Ex ...

". Art Ceylon says he "pioneered the development of the modern art movement in Ceylon".; J. F. R. De Fonseka calls him "undoubtedly the father of modern art in Sri Lanka". Shireen Senadhira, writing in Sri Lanka's ''

Sunday Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', called him "A great contributory factor in the genesis of modern art movement in Sri Lanka... from 1920". Yashodhara Dalmia, in the biography ''Buddha to Krishna: Life and Times of George Keyt'', describes Winzer as "A major contributory factor in the genesis of the modern art movement in Sri Lanka".

Works illustrated

Books illustrated using Winzer's lithographs include: * *

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winzer, Charles Freegrove 1940 deaths Artists from London 1886 births 20th-century British painters Red Cross personnel 20th-century Sri Lankan painters People interned during World War I British expatriates in British Ceylon British expatriates in France British expatriates in Italy British expatriates in the Russian Empire British expatriates in Austria