“You are no longer the same after experiencing art”- Milton Glaser, designer of the iconic “I Love New York” logo
On 23rd December last, Eric Anthony ‘Tony’ Phillips, another son of our soil, passed away in Australia, where he had migrated to in 1978. Like thousands of others who have departed our shores, his name in the annals of our history might have been just confined to the registry of births, his life’s work and productivity, the gain of another society. However, Tony Phillips was an artist who contributed to an enduring piece of art, a mural which has stood the test of time.
The mural, ‘Nation Builders’ is located in the dome section of the roof of the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) on Water Street, Georgetown, and features eight full length historical figures between the pendentives – the curved spaces between the windows of the dome – and a single face looking down onto the foyer of the bank. It is a mesmerizing piece of artistry which grabs one’s attention the moment one enters the imposing building. No matter how many times one has admired it there is always some new exacting detail which hadn’t been noticed in prior visits
Phillips’ passing has revived interest in the masterpiece and how it came into being. According to Phillips, fellow Guyanese of the art world Godfrey Chin and Ken Corsbie, suggested in the early 2000s that he should write a book about the mural. Phillips finally got around to penning “The Nation Builders” which was published by Amazon in 2021. It is a fascinating story of resourcefulness and resilience, which also provides a glimpse at life in Georgetown in the early 1970s. It is a must read for any young person faced with a challenging task and willing to go the distance to achieve success. The book is filled with photographs, sketches, and even some of the correspondence between Phillips and several of the parties involved in the project. The lugging of this file to Australia and its subsequent preservation is a tip of the hat to Phillips and a point to note for aspiring artists, as one never knows when paperwork will be of the utmost importance.
Phillips recounts ‘the Path to the Dome’ over the 18 months the project took to complete. He traces it from the seemingly casual chance en-counter in early 1973 with Mr Hugh McGregor Reid, the architect contracted to design the renovation of the bank. (Previously Barclays Bank PLC, it was acquired by the Government of Guyana in 1987, renamed GBTI, and subsequently privatised in the early 1990s.) Reid pitched the idea of a mural in the dome roof. Phillips immediately understood that it was not a one-man job and needed a collaborator. He narrowed his choices to the “one person who stood out, Stanley Greaves … a disciplined painter and thinker.” Both painters had full time jobs; Phillips was a sales representative at Berger Paints Guyana Ltd and Greaves was the Art Master at Queen’s College (QC).
The duo was tasked with coming up with a theme for the mural, bearing in mind the cost factor, as well as the time limit. Phillips suggested local landscapes. Greaves proposed historical figures as the government was leaning towards the idea of introducing textbooks which covered local history into the school curriculum. Once the latter theme had been agreed upon the painters consulted with Dr Robert ‘Bobby’ Moore Professor of History and English at the University of Guyana, and Mr Vere T Daly, noted Guyanese historian and author of “The Making of Guyana”, to whittle down their list of historical figures. The final eight read: Laurens van Gravesande, Governor (several credentials were listed for each person, for purposes of brevity only one is given here); Joseph Luckhoo, Barrister; James Crosby, Humanitarian; Cuffy, National Hero; Dr George Giglioli, Malariologist; Patrick Dargan, Defender of the People; Quamina, Slave Deacon; and Ocean Shark, Pork Knocker. Makanaima, the Great Ancestral Spirit of the Amerindians was chosen to be the centrepiece, the face looking down onto the bank floor.
Once approval had been granted, the research and development stage commenced with the newly-wed Phillips conducting research on various aspects of the project ranging from period clothing to paints to surface preparation whilst on honeymoon in Amsterdam and London. A chance conversation in the latter city sparked an idea of how to circumvent painting the figures directly onto the dome. As Phillips recalls the frustrating exercises in gathering material, arranging a studio for creating and painting the canvases (the QC Art Room sufficed), preparing the dome for the installation of the figures and completing the task, one gets an insight into how difficult life was becoming in Guyana (lack of basic consumer goods), and at the same time, the resilience, innovation and drive of the duo to overcome every obstacle in their path.
Phillips goes to great lengths to point out that the mural is a result of a tremendous team effort. Just to mention a few in the chain of assistance: an experienced architect’s vision and trust in a young artist; his early realization that this daunting task was a two-man job, the advisory role of two leading historians, and Dr Bobby Moore’s (later our High Commissioner to Canada) endeavours to convince the senior management of the bank as they waffled on giving the go-ahead as precious time ticked away. There was also the assistance rendered by the British Council and the United States Information Services in securing technical advice, and the night watchmen of the bank who kept the company of the two artists whilst they toiled shirtless on the high scaffolding anywhere from 8 pm to 1 am every evening, for the final two months to meet the deadline of Saturday, 27th, June, 1974, the date scheduled for the opening of the new premises.
In a tribute to his fellow collaborator on the project (Remembering artist Eric Anthony “Tony” Phillips, Sunday Stabroek, 7/01/24), Stanley Greaves painfully related that the new owners of the bank tampered with the mural a few years ago. Not unlike the near tragedies which were miraculously averted in 2007 and 2017 with Aubrey Williams’ Timehri murals at our international airport, the financial institution, without consulting the artists, repainted the backdrop of the mural in white, replacing the distinctive yellow mixed by the painters. The artists had created the unique colour by adding black paint to a very bright yellow then tempering the result with white to create a particular hue for ‘binding the figures and the face into one’. According to Greaves, the effect of the new white background is to “create eight separate figures with no connectivity”. Fortunately, Mr Greaves is still with us, and all efforts should be made as quickly as possible to have him oversee the rectification of this appalling damage. It is hoped that any future work on this mural, those by Aubrey Williams, or Denis Williams’ Memorabilia II at the National Cultural Centre, will be performed by reputable artists who are qualified, either by expertise, and, or experience, to undertake such delicate work.
The next time we visit the bank, even if it is just to pay silent tribute to this masterpiece, we should pause for a few minutes, and reflect on the legacies of the Nation Builders, who in their own unique ways carved separate paths for us to emulate. To these builders, and the artists who created this priceless national treasure, we owe our profound gratitude.
