Ba Thet
| Ba Thet ဘသက် |
|
|---|---|
| Born | 1903 British Burma |
| Died | 1972 (aged 69) |
| Nationality | Burmese |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Mandalay School |
Ba Thet (1903–1972; Burmese: ဘသက် [ba̰ θɛʔ]) 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, who is known commonly known in Burma as Kin Maung (Bank) to differentiate him from another painter of some renown, Kin Maung (Yangon). Kin Maung (Bank) is generally regarded as the "Father of Modernist Painting" in Burma.
The early stories about Ba Thet while he was an adolescent and teenager in training to become an artist are of a legendary quality. He was regarded as something of a prodigy of the arts in Burma because he never acquired his skills through formal training, rather by "seeing and doing." In addition, he had little taste for master-apprentice relations and no sooner had he mastered an art form than he was flouting the conventions of the genre. Some of the early stories about him are undoubtedly apocryphal but there are so many of them that they do clearly indicate the unconventional and somewhat rebellious character of the man. For example, there is a story of him as an adolescent learning Traditional Burmese floral painting from a Mandalay master and being able to reproduce such designs, of a high quality, in the space of a single session. Another story tells of him when he was older and studying goldsmithing as an apprentice, casually producing gold bracelets of a high quality for a client when the master stepped out—appalling his fellow apprentices with his audacity. Another time, as a youngster, he was studying with a Mandalay jade sculptor and was able to produce a ball of jade which the master said was of a standard produced by Hong Kong jade masters.
Ultimately, Ba Thet settled upon painting as his favorite art medium and studied watercolor painting informally from Maung Maung Gyi, Ba Zaw, and Saya Saung, through observation and helping his teachers. It is said that Ba Thet and Ba Nyan were among the first Burmese painters to paint in the western style, but it must be acknowledged that other painters, such as his teachers or M.T. Hla (U Tun Hla), preceded him. He is an important painter because he encouraged individuality, creativity, experimentation and modern concepts in his art.
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