SPIRIT AND COLOUR: THE ART OF U LUN GYWE

Art echoes the connection an artist feels for his country and his people. Spiritually, art is the consciousness that becomes the artist’s most primary tool. It is consciousness that defines the proper place and origin of art – the contact and vision, which have the power to touch our deepest nature. As art remains in the museum of our minds, it engages us into a relationship of stillness and contemplation that sometimes stirs the emotion sufficiently to acknowledge the spiritual and physical dimensions of inspiration that become an artist’s realization. Within this sense of reverence and academic value of truth lies the artistic mantra that U Lun Gywe interprets on his canvases and that exemplifies his deep commitment to art.

U Lun Gywe is one of Myanmar’s most accomplished senior artists whose artistic career has benefited from first-hand exposure to the artistic practices of some of Myanmar’s most important early masters. In turn, he has upheld that same legacy in a creative span of more than fifty years both as an artist and teacher. Although his accomplishments are vast, his entire body of work is unified by his sacred devotion to the principles of order, harmony, stability and grace -- the spirituality that results from U Lun Gywe’s strong Buddhist beliefs. Buddhism also molded how U Lun Gywe viewed his life and artistic career. In his quest for self-awareness, he learnt about mindfulness and the need to be mentally in control of his emotions, especially in relation to his art. “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.” This devotion continues to distil his unflagging imperative, evident in his canvases that spill with an ethereal armature of colours and brim with radiance in praise of life itself.

Born in Yangon, Myanmar, on 24 October 1930, U Lun Gywe developed a strong interest in art on his own at a very young age. As an only child he was raised by his mother after his father died when he was five months old. Growing up, U Lun Gywe was very engaged in the observation of the world around him and spent much of his time drawing. Any spare pages and space in his schoolbooks were filled with visual narratives of the world around him. Through these drawings, he not only expressed his fascination with the visual beauty and serenity of his surroundings, but an appreciation of the spiritual environment -- a reflection of the Buddhist faith, so important to the people of Myanmar. And throughout his formative years, his mother supported her son’s endeavours to become a creative person.

U Lun Gywe graduated in 1954 from the Art Institute of Specialist Teachers’ Training in Yangon. He deems himself privileged to have studied under some of Myanmar’s most noted pioneer artists such as U Thet Win, U San Win, U Ngwe Gaing and U Chit Maung. While he mentions these names with pride, he attributes the late U Thein Han as being his greatest teacher and ultimately the most important influence in U Lun Gywe’s life and career. At art school U Lun Gywe learnt to paint by copying and mastering correct form that was encompassed in the conservative academic values typically taught during his era. Even at this early stage he was searching for his own visual vocabulary, although his ambition to become a full-time artist was still lingering on a distant horizon.

However, an illustrious career as an art educator followed, one that would be instrumental for U Lun Gywe to realize his oeuvre. In 1956 he was appointed as an art instructor in the Art Department of the State School of Education. In 1958 he was transferred to the Ministry of Culture and became an instructor at the State School of Fine Arts in Yangon. He taught there until his retirement as principal of the school in 1979. Teaching was demanding: “I was required to teach everything from oils, watercolours as well as commercial art -- my ambition to be an artist remained a dream.” In addition, he often had to do commercial painting to make ends meet, which left him little time to pursue his aspiration of becoming a painter.

As a teacher U Lun Gywe discovered that not much had changed since his own student days. He was obliged to teach under the same banner of formalistic measurements of learning that he encountered as an art student. Nevertheless, his commitment to share his knowledge and impart his passion for art to his students was unrelenting. Despite the limitations of teaching, his career opened up opportunities that would introduce him to international art practices. He recognized the importance of gaining greater knowledge and exposure, which would contribute to the development of his own style of painting.

In 1964 U Lun Gywe traveled to China on a yearlong cultural exchange programme at the Institute of Fine Art in Beijing. His residency in Beijing was a pivotal experience for him. And at the heart of this new experience, he immersed himself in the study of the Chinese aesthetic, which was endowed with an ancient yet practical wisdom. Through Chinese brush painting, he learnt new techniques in articulating his visual narrative. He related well to the Chinese philosophy of tapping on the subconscious “inner images.” U Lun Gywe remarked that “the way in which the Chinese approached art was completely different to the Western art disciplines that I had learnt. Unlike the occidental tradition of saving images in sketchbooks, they would instead absorb the nuances and details of subjects. They would then paint from memory.” This discipline of using the mind’s eye, rather than a sketchbook, raised a new consciousness in him -- one that would renew his communion with nature as an overwhelming ancient force. In effect, this educational experience was most valuable to him on his return to Myanmar. Although he never further pursued the Chinese art of brush and ink, he incorporated the techniques into his oils and watercolours.

In 1971, U Lun Gywe received a scholarship to study conservation in East Germany. He traveled to East Berlin, Dresden and Potsdam, where for the first time he could study the works of the European masters – subjects that mirrored familiar aesthetic standards of the art he had studied and taught in Myanmar. “I felt such great joy to be able to study the technical applications of these original paintings. My deepest desire was to be able to create such works though I also knew that I wanted my paintings to reflect more movement. However, I related best to the paintings of the renowned European Impressionists. Though I found the Expressionist paintings interesting, Impressionism was fluid and fresh – it was a reflection of the inner self.”

The year in East Germany was one of the most significant for U Lun Gywe. He found a correlation between the European art styles and his own artistic explorations. As an artist, he persisted for years in trying to capture the serenity of Impressionism. It had remained a lovely texture in his imagination until he could give it his own meaningful expression. Embracing the techniques and tones of Impressionism, he created his own distinct style, closely linked to his own Myanmar identity. “I consider Impressionism to be the most refined form of artistic expression – it allows me to represent my subject with my very own perception and emotion and encourages the viewer to indulge in it with his own meanings.” In effect, he started producing images that shaped his artistic identity – images that still resonate today.

U Lun Gywe had come into his own. Revitalized, he once again turned towards his lifelong mentor, U Thein Han, in order to understand his changing perspective. Over the years the two artists had spent much time together, painting and discussing art as well as Buddhism. It was through this relationship with U Thein Han that U Lun Gywe started to examine the vital connection between abstract ideas and the essence of realism. Furthermore, it was through his magnetic and influential teacher that he first learnt about Impressionism. U Thein Han, himself a student of the great Myanmar master artist U Ban Nyan, was a man of deep conviction and creative talent. A highly acclaimed artist, U Thein Han had devoted himself to the belief that art can serve as a powerful tool in reinforcing the classical principles of order, stability, harmony and grace. As a teacher, U Thein Han encouraged his students to be diligent about the fundamentals of art, the nature of art, and to develop their own artistic feeling in order to succeed as artists. The subtle influence of U Thein Han became an ever-present factor in the life and work of U Lun Gywe. Even after his death in 1986, U Thein Han still remains the most important guidepost for U Lun Gywe.

Today U Lun Gywe’s signature impressionist style paintings with their distinct Asian overtones reflect his ongoing participation in the vital currents of Myanmar’s art scene. U Lun Gywe’s early genre paintings of the 1960s illustrate the influence of the traditional style of painting that was typically taught in art school. However, a stylistic shift from the rigid interpretation of traditional themes in the artist’s work, depicting his interest in Impressionism, was already emerging. And as his art developed, the pastoral serenity of idyllic scenery endowed with Myanmar’s ancient history found full flower with his stronger and more fluid brushstrokes that infused a greater sense of movement and emotion. Since committing himself to painting full-time in 1979, U Lung Gywe, as an artist, has further refined his already fluid process during the ensuing years as he has become more prolific. His style continued to grow looser as his colours became richer, expressing a new energy.

To know U Lun Gywe is to see him work. He is highly disciplined and reverent with urgency about his need to paint. He approaches each canvas with assurance and paints with confidence. The abundance of his intimate knowledge of art and his ability to humanize the dignity of his subjects fill his paintings. His work is not merely a representation of the physical forms of an idyllic past, but is rather an embodiment of that past and of his own personal history. Observing him paint, one can sense the rapid movement of the brush, which appears to have hardly left the canvas, on a rhythmic journey of shapes, shades and textures. The play of light is exquisite and creates a surface that is filled with motion – extending the painting beyond the boundaries of the canvas. One cannot help but be mesmerized by U Lun Gywe’s dexterity as a painter. He is highly respected as a portrait artist. Inspired by the moment, his images are tightly rendered with fidelity. His primacy as a painter is evident throughout his work, regardless of subject or manner of expression, which ranges from the formal academic style to a more modernized presentation.

U Lun Gywe is a dominating presence in Myanmar art circles, the significance of which is no surprise. He continues to uphold the Myanmar tradition of the teacher-student relationship. His name is mentioned with respect in Myanmar, and he maintains close friendships with many of his former students, some of whom have become successful artists and art academics. Even though his influence is everywhere, U Lun Gywe remains a humble man. He continues to be mindful of the cultural backdrop of his past as well as the Buddhist spiritual values that have guided him to success and have contributed to an artistic legacy important to the Myanmar tradition.

Shireen Naziree
Art Historian and Independent Curator, Malaysia