Thein Han (painter)
Encyclopedia
Thein Han was a major Yangon
painter of the post-World War II
era who produced a number of memorable works and who had an abiding influence on the evolution of the more conservative painting styles in Burma in the decades that followed. He should not be confused with Thein Han the writer and art critic, who is often quoted for his article written on Burmese painting published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1958.
after Ba Nyan returned from his art studies in London
in 1930. Three of these apprentices became major painters in Burma and Thein Han was one of them. Other painters such as Ngwe Gaing
and Kyaw Hlaing
had spent long periods studying with Ba Nyan but not as a live-in apprentices at his home. In Burma, there is a certain sentimental attachment to those painters who studied under Ba Nyan as full-fledged apprentices, perhaps because this training was reminiscent of the training painters of the Traditional School had received as far as memory could recall.
Ba Nyan’s two other apprentices who studied under him formally at his home—Ba Kyi
and Aung Khin
—broke away from Ba Nyan’s realist and naturalist style of painting. Ba Kyi initiated a Neo-Traditional revival in the post-World War II period and Aung Khin became an impressionist, abstract expressionist, and finally a non-figurative abstract painter.
Thein Han, however, spent an unusual nine years studying with Ba Nyan and never rebelled against his style and thus remained a realist and naturalist throughout his painting career. For this reason, he was sometimes referred to as the “second U Ba Nyan” in Burma, a sobriquet that was not necessarily flattering.
studies. This cousin, U Pandisa, introduced him to Ba Nyan and Ba Nyan accepted him as an apprentice. His birth name had been Maung Sit and Ba Nyan gave him the new name of Thein Han.
, six gold medals for watercolor painting, and six silver medals awarded by the Burma Artists’ Association. Despite this impressive array of awards, which do indicate his standing and respect in the Burmese art community, the long list must be taken with a grain of salt for in Burma associations that have little do with art or with little knowledge of it, are prone to give out such awards.
Prior to World War II, Thein Han took a position as a drawing teacher as Myin Chan High School in Central Burma. After the war, when the government opened up the Rangoon State School of Fine Arts in 1952, he joined the staff as an instructor of oil and watercolor painting, with an emphasis on color compositon. He taught at the State School of Fine Arts until the age of 67. It was here at the State School of Fine Arts, that he left a large impact on the subsequent development of Burmese painting, passing down the techniques of realist and naturalist painting which he had learned from Ba Nyan. It must be said that his taste in painting was conservative, yet he also steeped Burmese painters in a solid, formal foundation of techniques.
Thein Han was not a zealously prolific painter, yet a number of his works are famous in Burma, particularly three oil paintings: She of his wife, Artist U Ba Nyan (1950), and a well-known self-portrait entitled Artist U Thein Han (1972). All three works appear in a softback publication entitled The Great Master Myanmar Artist U Thein Han’s Descendant U Lun Gywe. The book includes 30 of Thein Han’s works and 30 by the contemporary painter Lun Gywe
, one of his students.
Like Ba Nyan, some of Thein Han's best works are portraits, but he also did landscapes and still life. His son, Han Htut, has written an unpublished article on his father’s history, entitled “Artist U Thein Han (1910-1986)” which lists 16 of his most important oil works. But perhaps three score or more works are undocumented.
While a teacher at the Rangoon School of Fine Arts and after his retirement, Thein Han often invited students to his home for lessons. After retirement he volunteered to teach for the Yangon University Art Club, and had classes at his home twice a week. In the history of Burmese painting pedagogy, Thein Han is a transitional figure in many ways. His own instruction came entirely through his apprenticeship with Ba Nyan, but he later became an instructor in a government school where his exposure to students was wide and not always intimate. Yet he tried to retain the intimacy of the old apprenticeship system by inviting students to his home to learn.
Because so many art students came in contact with him as an instructor at the Rangoon State School of Fine Arts or as a master-in-residence at his home, he influenced a great many of the painters who were born in the 1940s and still paint in Burma today, influenced distantly by the work of Ba Nyan. Many of these painters today are quite successful.
Two of Thein Han’s most notable students were the major painters Ba Yin Galay (1916-1988) and Lun Gywe (b. 1930).
Thein Han died at the age of 76 in 1986.
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...
painter of the post-World War II
World 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...
era who produced a number of memorable works and who had an abiding influence on the evolution of the more conservative painting styles in Burma in the decades that followed. He should not be confused with Thein Han the writer and art critic, who is often quoted for his article written on Burmese painting published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1958.
Overview
Thein Han was one of the six original apprentices who lived with and studied under Ba NyanBa Nyan
Ba Nyan was a Burmese painter who has been called the greatest name in modern painting in Myanmar. His oil paintings were quiet and academic in their style, but display occasional flashes of virtuosity in bold brushstrokes and skillful handling of the medium....
after Ba Nyan returned from his art studies in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1930. Three of these apprentices became major painters in Burma and Thein Han was one of them. Other painters such as Ngwe Gaing
Ngwe Gaing
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 great influence on the next generation of artists, and his works are now highly sought after.-Life:Of Burmese Chinese...
and Kyaw Hlaing
Kyaw Hlaing
Bogalay Kyaw Hlaing was a Burmese artist. Due to his mastery of the technique of painting clouds, he was sometimes also called "Cloudy Kyaw Hlaing".-Early Life:...
had spent long periods studying with Ba Nyan but not as a live-in apprentices at his home. In Burma, there is a certain sentimental attachment to those painters who studied under Ba Nyan as full-fledged apprentices, perhaps because this training was reminiscent of the training painters of the Traditional School had received as far as memory could recall.
Ba Nyan’s two other apprentices who studied under him formally at his home—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 Aung Khin
Aung Khin
Aung Khin was a Burmese painter who became prominent in the Mandalay art world. He is well-known as one of the foremost and earliest of modernistic painters in Burma.-Training, Memberships, and Associations:...
—broke away from Ba Nyan’s realist and naturalist style of painting. Ba Kyi initiated a Neo-Traditional revival in the post-World War II period and Aung Khin became an impressionist, abstract expressionist, and finally a non-figurative abstract painter.
Thein Han, however, spent an unusual nine years studying with Ba Nyan and never rebelled against his style and thus remained a realist and naturalist throughout his painting career. For this reason, he was sometimes referred to as the “second U Ba Nyan” in Burma, a sobriquet that was not necessarily flattering.
His early encounters with Ba Nyan
When Thein Han was in the tenth grade of secondary school, he encountered the work of Ba Nyan through an elder brother who knew Ba Nyan. From that point forward, he became obsessed with the art of painting and asked his parents to send him to art school but was turned down. Thus, he ran away from home to Yangon, where he stayed at U Ahdissawunssa’s monastery, where a cousin was studying BuddhisticBuddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
studies. This cousin, U Pandisa, introduced him to Ba Nyan and Ba Nyan accepted him as an apprentice. His birth name had been Maung Sit and Ba Nyan gave him the new name of Thein Han.
Career
During Thein Han’s painting career, he won six gold metals for oil paintingOil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
, six gold medals for watercolor painting, and six silver medals awarded by the Burma Artists’ Association. Despite this impressive array of awards, which do indicate his standing and respect in the Burmese art community, the long list must be taken with a grain of salt for in Burma associations that have little do with art or with little knowledge of it, are prone to give out such awards.
Prior to World War II, Thein Han took a position as a drawing teacher as Myin Chan High School in Central Burma. After the war, when the government opened up the Rangoon State School of Fine Arts in 1952, he joined the staff as an instructor of oil and watercolor painting, with an emphasis on color compositon. He taught at the State School of Fine Arts until the age of 67. It was here at the State School of Fine Arts, that he left a large impact on the subsequent development of Burmese painting, passing down the techniques of realist and naturalist painting which he had learned from Ba Nyan. It must be said that his taste in painting was conservative, yet he also steeped Burmese painters in a solid, formal foundation of techniques.
Thein Han was not a zealously prolific painter, yet a number of his works are famous in Burma, particularly three oil paintings: She of his wife, Artist U Ba Nyan (1950), and a well-known self-portrait entitled Artist U Thein Han (1972). All three works appear in a softback publication entitled The Great Master Myanmar Artist U Thein Han’s Descendant U Lun Gywe. The book includes 30 of Thein Han’s works and 30 by the contemporary painter Lun Gywe
Lun Gywe
Lun Gywe is a Burmese painter who works in oil and watercolor. Outside of Myanmar his work has been exhibited, often in solo shows, in Japan, the Republic of Korea, the People's Republic of China, Australia, New York, the Republic of Singapore.-Life:...
, one of his students.
Like Ba Nyan, some of Thein Han's best works are portraits, but he also did landscapes and still life. His son, Han Htut, has written an unpublished article on his father’s history, entitled “Artist U Thein Han (1910-1986)” which lists 16 of his most important oil works. But perhaps three score or more works are undocumented.
While a teacher at the Rangoon School of Fine Arts and after his retirement, Thein Han often invited students to his home for lessons. After retirement he volunteered to teach for the Yangon University Art Club, and had classes at his home twice a week. In the history of Burmese painting pedagogy, Thein Han is a transitional figure in many ways. His own instruction came entirely through his apprenticeship with Ba Nyan, but he later became an instructor in a government school where his exposure to students was wide and not always intimate. Yet he tried to retain the intimacy of the old apprenticeship system by inviting students to his home to learn.
Because so many art students came in contact with him as an instructor at the Rangoon State School of Fine Arts or as a master-in-residence at his home, he influenced a great many of the painters who were born in the 1940s and still paint in Burma today, influenced distantly by the work of Ba Nyan. Many of these painters today are quite successful.
Two of Thein Han’s most notable students were the major painters Ba Yin Galay (1916-1988) and Lun Gywe (b. 1930).
Thein Han died at the age of 76 in 1986.