Lun Gywe ( my, လွန်းကြွယ်, ; born 24 October 1930) is a Burmese painter who works in oil and watercolor. Outside of

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

his work has been exhibited, often in solo shows, in

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, the

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, the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, Australia,

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, the

Republic of Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borderin ...

Life

Lun Gywe was born in

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

, Myanmar on 24 September 1930, and was raised by his mother after his father died when he was five months old. From an early age he spent much of his time drawing. He studied under Thet Win, Chit Maung, San Win, Thein Han (painter) and Ngwe Gaing, and graduated from the Art Institute of Teacher's Training in 1954. He was an instructor at the State School of Fine Arts, Yangon (1958–1979) and principal of this school (1977–1979). He also taught at the Fine Art association the University of Rangoon (1960–1979). He studied in China in 1964, and was awarded a fellowship in

art restoration The conservation and restoration of cultural property focuses on protection and care of cultural property, cultural property (tangible cultural heritage), including Collection (artwork), artworks, Architectural conservation, architecture, Archae ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

in 1971. His year-long stay in China had a strong influence, and he incorporated the Chinese brush and ink techniques into his oils and watercolors. The course in east Germany let him study European masters in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 ...

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and

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and confirmed his love of impressionism. However, his greatest influence has probably been Thein Han, under whom he studied and with whom he retained a close relationship in his later life.

Work

Lun Gywe has been described as the greatest living Burmese painter. Lun Gywe began painting in a realistic and naturalistic vein, influenced by the major painters of the Rangoon School, Ba Nyan, Ngwe Gaing, San Win, and Thein Han who was his painting master. Over time, his works became more

impressionistic Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and some of the works today might be called

expressionistic Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. His exposure to rapidly executed Chinese ink and watercolor painting during his trip to China seems to have influenced his impressionistic work as he paints quickly and he is extremely prolific. His impressionistic work has been called "the action of impressionism". Of his

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

style, he has said, "I paint according to my emotions, drawing inspiration from smell and textures, light and shadow" An important part of his work focuses on the female form, his favourite subject. A strong believer in

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, his work is unified by his devotion to the principles embodied in that religion of order, harmony, stability and grace. He has said "I find inspiration in calmness. I cannot create a good painting when in an unsettled frame of mind. I often meditate before I start a painting".

Museum Collections

* National Museum of Myanmar *

Singapore Art Museum The Singapore Art Museum ( Abbreviation: SAM) is an art museum is located in the Downtown Core district of Singapore. It is the first fully dedicated contemporary visual arts museum in Singapore with one of the world’s most important public c ...

* National Art Gallery (Malaysia)

Life

Work

Museum Collections

See also

References

Further reading