National Art Gallery scandal deepens as 42 priceless paintings vanish, with no proper logs, missing stock books, and police probes underway.
National Art Gallery authorities are under intense scrutiny after 42 priceless paintings, including works linked to the famed ‘43 Group’, went missing.
Police have now launched a broad investigation into the disappearance of the paintings, which had been deposited at the National Art Gallery.
Security forces have recorded statements from 15 individuals, including seven senior officials attached to the Department of Cultural Affairs.
The shocking disclosure, which has shaken the country’s cultural community, was recently revealed in Parliament by Minister of Cultural Affairs Dr. Hiniduma Sunil Senevi.
According to preliminary investigations, the missing paintings appear to have been misplaced due to irresponsible, non-transparent, and arbitrary actions by officials at the National Art Gallery.
The most serious issue is that proper photographs or formal data records were not maintained for some of the valuable paintings.
As a result, authorities are now facing a situation where some of the missing artworks cannot even be individually identified.
With the help of a special album printed in 2008, only 14 of the missing paintings have so far been identified.
Identifying the remaining 28 paintings has now become a major challenge.
Adding further gravity to the scandal, the official stock book maintained at the Art Gallery since 1987 has also mysteriously disappeared.
Several irregular and suspicious transactions that had allegedly taken place at the National Art Gallery over a long period have also come to light.
In one serious revelation, valuable paintings were reportedly sold in 1999 as “scrap” material for a paltry sum of Rs.1,500.
No official documents connected to that sale have been found with the responsible officials.
Investigations have also revealed that some paintings taken abroad for foreign exhibitions at different times were not properly handed back to the Art Gallery after those exhibitions ended.
Although a complaint regarding this large-scale cultural loss was first received by the Colombo South Divisional Crime Investigation Department in 2023, no successful or systematic investigation had been carried out until 2025.
Following direct orders and instructions from the current Minister of Cultural Affairs, an additional investigation committee has now been appointed.
Formal investigations have also been expedited.
It has been confirmed that the missing collection includes valuable works by Lionel Wendt, one of Sri Lanka’s finest artists.
The collection also includes historical paintings featuring the image of Dudley Senanayake.
Police investigation teams are now working to determine whether these national treasures were stolen and released into the open market, or whether they have been destroyed.
