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

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

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. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

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, the Republic of Singapore.

Life

Lun Gywe was born in

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

, 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 Ngwe Gaing ( ; 1901–1967), known honorifically as Sayagyi U Ngwe Gaing, was a Burmese artist who worked in both oil and watercolor. After the death of his teacher Ba Nyan, he was recognized as the greatest living painter in Myanmar. He had ...

, 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 The University of Yangon (also Yangon University; , ; formerly Rangoon College, University of Rangoon and Rangoon Arts and Sciences University), located in Kamayut, Yangon, is the oldest university in Myanmar's modern education system and the b ...

(1960–1979). He studied in China in 1964, and was awarded a fellowship in

art restoration conservation and restoration of cultural property focuses on protection and care of cultural property (tangible cultural heritage), including artworks, architecture, archaeology, and museum collections. Conservation activities include preve ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

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 partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

and

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

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 and some of the works today might be called expressionistic. 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 visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

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 Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, 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 with multiple venues across Singapore. It is the first fully dedicated contemporary visual arts museum in Singapore with one of the world’s most important public collections by loc ...

National Art Gallery (Malaysia) The National Art Gallery of Malaysia (; Jawi: ) is a public art gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The gallery is situated along Jalan Tun Razak, on the northern edge of central Kuala Lumpur. It is located next to the Istana Budaya, which ...

Life

Work

Museum Collections

See also

References

Further reading