Mandalay

U Kin Maung was the first artist to bring modernism and abstract expression in art to Myanmar. It is said that, as well as studying art independently from artists in Myanmar, he accessed the western modernist movement through correspondence courses from America and Britain before World War II. At the time, realism and naturalism dominated the art world in Yangon, but basing himself in Mandalay he instructed younger artists with new ideas through classes and publications. This landscape piece features the moat and site of the former royal palace in Mandalay and represents an early stage in the development of Myanmar abstract art. The overall dark brown hue is inspired by the stone and water of the moat. The motif of shapes represents the stone wall while in the foreground small structures and trees can be seen on the bank. U Kin Maung pursued a fusion of traditional Myanmar motifs and modernist painting.