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Lot Essay
RUPTURES IN THE EARLY YANGON SCHOOL
Excellent paintings were done in Myanmar before Ba Nyan, but his academic and professional training in London in the 1920s, which he passed on to painters such as U Ngwe Gaing (Lot 366 & 367) and San Win (Lot 370), became the backbone of modern Myanmar painting. A case in point is U Lun Gywe (Lot 369), who studied under Ba Nyan's apprentice Thein Han, who became Lun Gywe's much admired teacher. For much of Lun Gywe's career, he was a realist in the Ba Nyan-Thein Han mode, and only in the 1990s began to move into a florid impressionism.
The influence of Ba Nyan and Ngwe Gaing was also evident in the early 1990s work of Min Wae Aung (Lot 375) and his apprentice Zaw Zaw Aung. The reach of the Early Yangon School extended through a wide arc, into the post-2000 oil work of older artists such as Soe Nyunt Lay (Windy) and the 1990s watercolour of Hla Han (Lot 371), both of whose works possess gravitas, a feature associated with the Early Yangon School. This gravitas, however, also appears in pre-Ba Nyan works in Mandalay, and Hla Han admits to being influenced by Ngwe Gaing, as well as early Mandalay watercolorists.
At this time, the painters in Mandalay wished to challenge the trends occurring in Yangon. Saw Maung (Lot 368) was one of these painters, experimenting with modern and indigenous styles, in a private oeuvre that encompassed realism, impressionism, and surrealism mixed with Myanmar or Asian themes. As Saw Maung was a professional painter for religious edifices in Upper Myanmar, his private oeuvre is not large. The same must also be said of the painters who worked in his crew, who also developed individual private oeuvre, such as the rare works of the Shan painter Kham Lun (Lot 372), for instance.
At this time, the painters in Mandalay wished to challenge the trends occurring in Yangon. Saw Maung (Lot 368) was one of these painters, experimenting with modern and indigenous styles, in a private oeuvre that encompassed realism, impressionism, and surrealism mixed with Myanmar or Asian themes. As Saw Maung was a professional painter for religious edifices in Upper Myanmar, his private oeuvre is not large. The same must also be said of the painters who worked in his crew, who also developed individual private oeuvre, such as the rare works of the Shan painter Kham Lun (Lot 372), for instance.
In the 1950s, Aung Khin had exhibitions of his work in Mandalay, one of which was sponsored by the American Consulate there. This did not attract great attention in Yangon, however, where painters might acquire media recognition and buyers from diplomats. As for Bagyi Aung Soe, he did not possess the temperament to initiate "movements" and his work was too unusual for many Myanmar or foreign art-lovers to understand or admire at that time.
Thus, when the "modernist movement" did arrive in Myanmar it started in 1963, as a result of a show in Yangon by the Mandalay painter Paw Oo Thet , sponsored by the American Embassy. One of the hallmarks of this movement, in addition to elements of geometric, compositional, or proportional abstraction, was a bold move into color abstraction, a necessary advent recommended by Aung Khin, who observed that modernist works require unusual or "crazy colors". Indeed, this became one of the major elements of the modernist break from the Early Yangon School.
The movement had several dozen members, but the leading lights were Paw Oo Thet, Win Pe, Kin Maung Yin, as well as Kin Maung (Bank) and Aung Khin. It created a sensation in Myanmar for two or three years, but eventually government restrictions made it difficult for diplomats to find paintings. By the 1990s, when Myanmar began to open up to the world, a younger generation of modernist hold-outs were leading the movement: Tin Maung Oo (Yangon) (Lot 383), Aung Myint, San Minn, among others.
Ultimately, these painters were surpassed by a younger generation who were captivated by a romance with color: Ramree Tin Shwe (Lot 378), Nyein Chan Su (Lot 379), Myat Kyawt (Lot 377), Zaw Win Pe (Lot 380), and Min Zaw (Lot 382), of which the last four painters are the leading representatives of the young modernist painters in Myanmar today.
Excellent paintings were done in Myanmar before Ba Nyan, but his academic and professional training in London in the 1920s, which he passed on to painters such as U Ngwe Gaing (Lot 366 & 367) and San Win (Lot 370), became the backbone of modern Myanmar painting. A case in point is U Lun Gywe (Lot 369), who studied under Ba Nyan's apprentice Thein Han, who became Lun Gywe's much admired teacher. For much of Lun Gywe's career, he was a realist in the Ba Nyan-Thein Han mode, and only in the 1990s began to move into a florid impressionism.
The influence of Ba Nyan and Ngwe Gaing was also evident in the early 1990s work of Min Wae Aung (Lot 375) and his apprentice Zaw Zaw Aung. The reach of the Early Yangon School extended through a wide arc, into the post-2000 oil work of older artists such as Soe Nyunt Lay (Windy) and the 1990s watercolour of Hla Han (Lot 371), both of whose works possess gravitas, a feature associated with the Early Yangon School. This gravitas, however, also appears in pre-Ba Nyan works in Mandalay, and Hla Han admits to being influenced by Ngwe Gaing, as well as early Mandalay watercolorists.
At this time, the painters in Mandalay wished to challenge the trends occurring in Yangon. Saw Maung (Lot 368) was one of these painters, experimenting with modern and indigenous styles, in a private oeuvre that encompassed realism, impressionism, and surrealism mixed with Myanmar or Asian themes. As Saw Maung was a professional painter for religious edifices in Upper Myanmar, his private oeuvre is not large. The same must also be said of the painters who worked in his crew, who also developed individual private oeuvre, such as the rare works of the Shan painter Kham Lun (Lot 372), for instance.
At this time, the painters in Mandalay wished to challenge the trends occurring in Yangon. Saw Maung (Lot 368) was one of these painters, experimenting with modern and indigenous styles, in a private oeuvre that encompassed realism, impressionism, and surrealism mixed with Myanmar or Asian themes. As Saw Maung was a professional painter for religious edifices in Upper Myanmar, his private oeuvre is not large. The same must also be said of the painters who worked in his crew, who also developed individual private oeuvre, such as the rare works of the Shan painter Kham Lun (Lot 372), for instance.
In the 1950s, Aung Khin had exhibitions of his work in Mandalay, one of which was sponsored by the American Consulate there. This did not attract great attention in Yangon, however, where painters might acquire media recognition and buyers from diplomats. As for Bagyi Aung Soe, he did not possess the temperament to initiate "movements" and his work was too unusual for many Myanmar or foreign art-lovers to understand or admire at that time.
Thus, when the "modernist movement" did arrive in Myanmar it started in 1963, as a result of a show in Yangon by the Mandalay painter Paw Oo Thet , sponsored by the American Embassy. One of the hallmarks of this movement, in addition to elements of geometric, compositional, or proportional abstraction, was a bold move into color abstraction, a necessary advent recommended by Aung Khin, who observed that modernist works require unusual or "crazy colors". Indeed, this became one of the major elements of the modernist break from the Early Yangon School.
The movement had several dozen members, but the leading lights were Paw Oo Thet, Win Pe, Kin Maung Yin, as well as Kin Maung (Bank) and Aung Khin. It created a sensation in Myanmar for two or three years, but eventually government restrictions made it difficult for diplomats to find paintings. By the 1990s, when Myanmar began to open up to the world, a younger generation of modernist hold-outs were leading the movement: Tin Maung Oo (Yangon) (Lot 383), Aung Myint, San Minn, among others.
Ultimately, these painters were surpassed by a younger generation who were captivated by a romance with color: Ramree Tin Shwe (Lot 378), Nyein Chan Su (Lot 379), Myat Kyawt (Lot 377), Zaw Win Pe (Lot 380), and Min Zaw (Lot 382), of which the last four painters are the leading representatives of the young modernist painters in Myanmar today.