Daraniyagala’s work was seen in London in Leicester Galleries in 1934-35 where it was favourably received by famous critics such as Eric Newton and Jan Gordon. Thereafter he again exhibited his work in 1937-38 at the Leicester and Redfern Galleries, and had a one-man show at the Adams Galleries. The Adams Galleries were critically an unqualified success, which led to his paintings being bought privately by Monroe Wheeler (Former Director of exhibitions, Museum of Modern Art, New York). In 1956 Daraniyagala exhibited at Vennice Biennale and was awarded UNESCO prize for painting ‘The Fisherman’ reproduced by New York Graphic Society.

Justin Daraniyagala’s style was compared gratifyingly with that of the English artist Sutherland by Eric Newton in the London “Sunday Times”. He stated that Daraniyagala ‘roughly spoke the sophisticated language as Mr. Sutherland’ (Weereratne,1993, p79).

John Berger, the art critic on the “New Statesman and Nation”, was convinced of the value of Daraniyagala’s work. He wrote ‘Like the Indonesian Affandi, he is an expressionist. … he is able to use the license of expressionism to emphasize the condense associations, fears and hopes that have a far wider validity’. In Sri Lanka, Fred de Silva who wrote for the “Times of Ceylon”, following the 43 Group’s ninth exhibition in 1954, that Daraniyagala’s work to him was ‘most impressive, though a little hard of viewing’ (Weereratne, 1993, p87).

Most outstanding of all comments was the great statement made by the French art critic, Georges Besson, writing after the Petit Palais showing of the Group. Writing in 1953 issue of “Les Lettres Francaises”, he said, “This realist painter, this man of vision from Ceylon, with his extraordinary range of colour, this Daraniyagala, whose name we should all remember will be known now on as one of the important revelations of our time” (Weereratne, 1993, p88).

References:  Weeraratne (1993) and Prof S.B. Dissanayake (2001-9)