William Wright Beling II

William Wright Beling (31 December 1867 – 23 June 1928) was a Ceylonese watercolour painter of Dutch Burgher descent.

Biography

Early life William Wright Beling II was born in Wolvendahl, Colombo, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), the son of William Wright Beling I and Maria Elizabeth Prins.

Beling's father, William Wright (1841–1894) was a Proctor of the Supreme Court, and his mother Maria Elizabeth Prins (1841–1888), was the daughter of H. C. Prins, also a Proctor of the Supreme Court. Beling was the second son and the second eldest of a family of eight children, consisting of four brothers and three sisters. ) Jessie Alexandra Maria (1874–1951), Antoninette 'Annie' Aileen (1876–1910) (mother of the art patron Len Van Geyzel) and Aelian Arnold (1879–1967) (father of John Kingsman Beling, Rear Admiral of the United States Navy).

Family life

On 24 February 1897 Beling married Charlotte Eliza Conderlag (1870–1903), the daughter of Wilfred Morgan Conderlag (Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court) and Charlotte Frances Prins in Milagiriya. 1932–1967 and founder member of the '43 Group) and Bertram 'Bonnie' Wright (12 September 1909 – 16 May 1952), who was also known in theater circles as Richard Beling, and one daughter, Marie Annette (14 December 1914 – 18 April 1916), who died in infancy.

Legacy

On 27 August 1928, Dr. H. U. Leembruggen proposed the idea of a Memorial Exhibition of the works of Beling. The exhibition would primarily showcase the works of the late Mr. W. W. Beling from the years 1890 to 1928 along with works of other artists in the Burgher community. "Miss Grace van Dort, Messrs. E. F. van Dort, E. G. and Sam A. Koch, C. L. and W. J. G. Beling (his sons Christie and Geoff Beling) and Mr. George Keyt, (who was specially invited to contribute)". A collection of sketches and drawings by the famous 19th Century Ceylonese artist Mr. J. L. K. van Dort, was also exhibited at the exhibition and is recorded to have provoked a lot of interest due to the historical value of these art pieces. Mr. Otto Schienhammer, a distinguished landscape painter from Munich, loaned eight paintings to the exhibition.

The exhibition, held from 23 to 28 October 1928, was opened by His Excellency, Sir Herbert Stanley, the Governor of Ceylon (1928–1931) 'in the presence of a large and representative gathering'. In his opening comments Sir Herbert Stanley said that he "had seen one or two of Mr. Beling's pictures since he had been in the island, but he had not had the opportunity of seeing such a large collection, and forming the estimate of what his work was really like. He looked forward with great interest to seeing for himself a fairly representative exhibition of his work". His Excellency went on to say that he "was interested in all that he had heard and read of the late Mr. Beling. He was a many sided man. He was a distinguished public servant, a great sportsman, a good shot and he must have been fond of horses".

The Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon (Vol. XVIIL – April 1929) records the following members of the Union as being on the Committee: Miss Grace van Dort, Dr. R. L. Spittel, Mr. A. B. Keuneman, Lt. Col W. E. V. de Rooy, Col. A. C. B. Jonklaas, Dr. L. A. Prina, Messrs. Lionel Wendt, E. A. van der Straaten, Ernest E. van Dort, E. G. Koch and C. L. Beling, with the Hony. Secretary and Hony. Treasurer of the D. B. U. as ex-officio members. Manel Fonseka, in her book Lionel Wendt – A Centennial Tribute, notes that Wendt's friendship with the family of the painter W. W. Beling, "may have begun before Beling's son Geoffrey went to India in 1926 to study architecture and art. He was on the committee of the W. W. Beling Memorial Art Exhibition in 1928, at which Keyt, the younger Beling and a German post-impressionist Otto Scheinhammer also exhibited". Caryl Nugara, reviewing the exhibition, wrote that: In dark, phantom shades of green and browny yellow W. W. Beling gave us a "View of Dutch Canal". It depicted the charm of turgid yet placid waters, greenery and tender coconut palms. The "padda" house boat almost hiding in the curve of the canal was romantic. "Morning on Tuankai Lake" awakened from the night's slumber was aesthetically beautiful.

In March 2008 'Sketchbook: An Exhibition of the Beling Family to commemorate the 100th birth year of Geoffrey Beling' was hosted at the Sapumal Foundation in Colombo. Along with the works of the artist Geoffrey Beling, it also showcased sketches and paintings by his father, W. W. Beling.