Maung Maung Gyi (painter)
Encyclopedia
Maung Maung Gyi was an early watercolor painter from Yangon
and the first Burmese
to travel abroad for studies in Western painting.
to study art. The events which followed, attributed to the year 1906, have become a part of Burmese folklore. He allegedly went to Rangoon harbor to find a ship which would carry him to England and asked the captain of one ship there for a job as a seaman. While talking to the captain he drew his portrait, and the captain was so taken with the youth’s portrait of him and his adventuresome spirit that he agreed to take him on board as a seaman. Maung Maung Gyi was about 16 years-old at that time.
Maung Maung Gyi reached England and studied there for two or three years. It is not known what school he attended, but his main studies seemed to have been agriculture, as well as art and chemistry. There is some possibility that during his time in England he may also have had to work as a dishwasher to make ends meet. It seems not to have been an institution of higher learning for when he returned to Burma, about 1908 or shortly thereafter, he continued with his secondary education at St. Paul’s English High School in Rangoon for two years. Following his studies at St. Paul’s, he became an agricultural officer for the colonial government, which offered him the chance to tour the country, painting its scenes in his free time.
, Maung Maung Gyi found himself a catalyst in the conflagration. The city of Mandalay was curfewed and two provocateurs, a Shwe Pe and Shwe Sin, were put on trial behind closed doors. Photographs of the accused were forbidden; however, Maung Maung managed to view the court proceedings accompanying a Burmese reporter and memorized the faces of the accused and then sent their portraits to the newspapers where they were printed. According to Nyan Shein, “the massacre spread through the whole of Burma… Therefore the British
had to curfew the whole country.” These events are difficult to corroborate, but Cady in his A History of Modern Burma mentions anti-Indian riots occurring throughout Burma in 1938.
Another notorious incident involving Maung Maung Gyi is a quarrel that he had with one his superior British officers in the agricultural department, allegeding punching the man and subsequently quitting his job as an agricultural officer for good. This event may have occurred prior to the incidents of the Indian-Burmese riots above, attributed to the year 1938, for in the following year, 1939, when the State School of Art and Music opened up, he became an instructor there. This was a prestigious position. The principal of the school was San Win
, and to other painters of note, Ba Kyi
and Maung Maung Mya, were teachers at the school.
, his house burned down and his entire collection was lost.
Not many works by Maung Maung Gyi have survived. Four of his watercolors are currently in the collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum
, Oxford
. A fifth painting appears on page 13 of Old Myanmar Paintings in the Collection of U Win (2006) by Hla Tin Htun, and it is said that the National Museum of Myanmar
owns a painting or paintings by Maung Maung Gyi but if so, the work has not been on display in recent years.
Maung Maung Gyi’s work also shows irrefutable influence of Robert Talbot Kelly
, the British painter who traveled throughout Burma in the early 1900s, producing a large tome of his collected scenes of Burma in his book Burma, Painted and Described (1905). One of the four paintings in the Pitt Rivers Museum collection done by Maung Maiung Gyi is an exact replica of a painting entitled Express Steamer Passing Sagaing
on page 146 of Talbot Kelly’s book. This is not to suggest by any means that Maung Maung Gyi had a habit of copying works from other painters; rather, as many painters of both the Traditional and Western Schools did in Burma in the early days, he copied the works of painters he admired in order to learn.
Interestingly enough, Maung Maung Gyi is said to have influenced and been influenced by the early artist of the Traditional School, Saya Aye. After returning from England, Maung Maung Gyi is said to have given Saya Aye instruction in Western painting in exchange for instruction in Traditional art. However, evidence of Traditional techniques hardly exists in Maung Maung Gyi’s work, and while Maung Maung Gyi may have left an influence on Saya Aye in his Western-style works, it is clear from a painting dated 1909 by Saya Aye, entitled Burmese Gentleman and Wife, now in the collection of the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
, that Saya Aye must have already made large steps on his own to learn Western techniques before meeting Maung Maung Gyi.
Maung Maung Gyi’s influence in Burma was largely as a watercolor painter who traveled about Burma capturing its scenes in the plein air
style. The plein air mode of painting later became very common among Upper Burma
painters such as Saya Saung and Ba Thet
in his early works.
Yangon
Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...
and the first Burmese
Burmese
Burmese may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Burma, a country in Southeast Asia. See:**Demographics of Burma**Culture of Burma**:Category:Burmese people* Burmese language* Burmese cuisine-Other:* Burmese Python* Burmese...
to travel abroad for studies in Western painting.
Early history and training
Maung Maung Gyi lost his mother in early childhood and so his father sent him to Yangon High School as a boarding student. There he exhibited an interest in drawing, but he was temperamental and one day quarreled with a teacher and quit school. He then decided to travel to EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to study art. The events which followed, attributed to the year 1906, have become a part of Burmese folklore. He allegedly went to Rangoon harbor to find a ship which would carry him to England and asked the captain of one ship there for a job as a seaman. While talking to the captain he drew his portrait, and the captain was so taken with the youth’s portrait of him and his adventuresome spirit that he agreed to take him on board as a seaman. Maung Maung Gyi was about 16 years-old at that time.
Maung Maung Gyi reached England and studied there for two or three years. It is not known what school he attended, but his main studies seemed to have been agriculture, as well as art and chemistry. There is some possibility that during his time in England he may also have had to work as a dishwasher to make ends meet. It seems not to have been an institution of higher learning for when he returned to Burma, about 1908 or shortly thereafter, he continued with his secondary education at St. Paul’s English High School in Rangoon for two years. Following his studies at St. Paul’s, he became an agricultural officer for the colonial government, which offered him the chance to tour the country, painting its scenes in his free time.
Personality and further imbroglios
As a youth who had traveled to England in such a daring way, Maung Maung Gyi became famous in Burma, as a model to young Burmese youth who were so provincial and timid that they often feared leaving their villages. He became notorious in other respects. Although he developed a passion for Western-style painting, he had a great resentment of his colonial masters, especially British officers. In 1938, when a Burmese-Indian massacre or riot broke out in MandalayMandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Located north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of one million, and is the capital of Mandalay Region ....
, Maung Maung Gyi found himself a catalyst in the conflagration. The city of Mandalay was curfewed and two provocateurs, a Shwe Pe and Shwe Sin, were put on trial behind closed doors. Photographs of the accused were forbidden; however, Maung Maung managed to view the court proceedings accompanying a Burmese reporter and memorized the faces of the accused and then sent their portraits to the newspapers where they were printed. According to Nyan Shein, “the massacre spread through the whole of Burma… Therefore the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
had to curfew the whole country.” These events are difficult to corroborate, but Cady in his A History of Modern Burma mentions anti-Indian riots occurring throughout Burma in 1938.
Another notorious incident involving Maung Maung Gyi is a quarrel that he had with one his superior British officers in the agricultural department, allegeding punching the man and subsequently quitting his job as an agricultural officer for good. This event may have occurred prior to the incidents of the Indian-Burmese riots above, attributed to the year 1938, for in the following year, 1939, when the State School of Art and Music opened up, he became an instructor there. This was a prestigious position. The principal of the school was San Win
San Win
San Win was a painter who is renowned in Burma as the first Burmese painter to embrace impressionism as his chief style of depiction...
, and to other painters of note, Ba Kyi
Ba Kyi
Ba Kyi, FRSA was a well-known and prolific Burmese artist. He was initially trained in western painting, but in the post-WWII independence period, he initiated a revivial of Traditional painting, borrowing from the Western training he had received as well as his own cultural heritage of painting...
and Maung Maung Mya, were teachers at the school.
Works
Maung Maung Gyi is known to have owned a large collection of paintings, but whether these paintings were strictly his own works or included works which he had collected by other painters in Burma is not known. In any event, during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, his house burned down and his entire collection was lost.
Not many works by Maung Maung Gyi have survived. Four of his watercolors are currently in the collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum
Pitt Rivers Museum
The Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum displaying the archaeological and anthropological collections of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and can only be accessed through that building.The museum was...
, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. A fifth painting appears on page 13 of Old Myanmar Paintings in the Collection of U Win (2006) by Hla Tin Htun, and it is said that the National Museum of Myanmar
National Museum of Myanmar
The National Museum of Myanmar, , located in Dagon, Yangon, is the main museum of Burmese art, history and culture in Myanmar. Founded in 1952, the five-story museum has an extensive collection of ancient artifacts, ornaments, works of art, inscriptions and historic memorabilia, related to history,...
owns a painting or paintings by Maung Maung Gyi but if so, the work has not been on display in recent years.
Influences and legacy
Although Maung Maung Gyi is said to have studied art in England, his greater influences in painting may actually have come through exposure to British painters whom he personally encountered in Burma or whose works he saw there. In particular, one British painter who may have influenced him is B.H. Wiles, who published reproductions of his paintings of Burma in India and England. B.H. Wiles work has appeared in Christie’s auctions in recent years but with little biographical information about him beyond the fact that he was a 19th and 20th century painter. One account of Maung Maung Gyi’s life records that he was a companion painter of B.H. Wiles when Wiles painted in Burma. This account also maintains that Maung Maung Gyi’s paintings were marketed in Germany.Maung Maung Gyi’s work also shows irrefutable influence of Robert Talbot Kelly
Robert Talbot Kelly
Robert Talbot Kelly was an English orientalist landscape and genre painter, author and illustrator.Kelly was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, the son of Irish landscape artist Robert George Kelly. He left school in 1876 to take up work in a firm of cotton traders, but was also taught art by his...
, the British painter who traveled throughout Burma in the early 1900s, producing a large tome of his collected scenes of Burma in his book Burma, Painted and Described (1905). One of the four paintings in the Pitt Rivers Museum collection done by Maung Maiung Gyi is an exact replica of a painting entitled Express Steamer Passing Sagaing
Sagaing
Sagaing is the capital of Sagaing Region in Myanmar. Located on the Ayeyarwady River, 20 km to the southwest of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river, Sagaing with numerous Buddhist monasteries is an important religious and monastic center. The pagodas and monasteries crowd the numerous...
on page 146 of Talbot Kelly’s book. This is not to suggest by any means that Maung Maung Gyi had a habit of copying works from other painters; rather, as many painters of both the Traditional and Western Schools did in Burma in the early days, he copied the works of painters he admired in order to learn.
Interestingly enough, Maung Maung Gyi is said to have influenced and been influenced by the early artist of the Traditional School, Saya Aye. After returning from England, Maung Maung Gyi is said to have given Saya Aye instruction in Western painting in exchange for instruction in Traditional art. However, evidence of Traditional techniques hardly exists in Maung Maung Gyi’s work, and while Maung Maung Gyi may have left an influence on Saya Aye in his Western-style works, it is clear from a painting dated 1909 by Saya Aye, entitled Burmese Gentleman and Wife, now in the collection of the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
Fukuoka Art Museum
Fukuoka Art Museum is an encyclopedic art museum in Fukuoka, Japan. It contains a notable collection of Asian art and exhibits various temporary exhibitions - in November 2010 it hosted a large exhibition of Marc Chagall's work.-External links:*...
, that Saya Aye must have already made large steps on his own to learn Western techniques before meeting Maung Maung Gyi.
Maung Maung Gyi’s influence in Burma was largely as a watercolor painter who traveled about Burma capturing its scenes in the plein air
En plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
style. The plein air mode of painting later became very common among Upper Burma
Upper Burma
Upper Burma refers to a geographic region of Burma , traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery , or more broadly speaking, Kachin and Shan States....
painters such as Saya Saung and Ba Thet
Ba Thet
Ba Thet was a Burmese painter who worked in Mandalay, Myanmar and who was known as an advocate of experimentation in the arts. He was an associate of Kin Maung,...
in his early works.