Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [15]
Wat Bowonniwet (Map) Painted by an artist called In Kong during the reign of Rama II, the murals in the panels of the ubohsòt (chapel) of this temple show Thai depictions of Western life during the early 19th century; see Click here for more on Wat Bowonniwet.
Wat Chong Nonsi (Map) Dating back to the late Ayuthaya period, Bangkok’s earliest surviving temple paintings are faded and missing in parts, but the depictions of everyday Thai life, including bawdy illustrations of a sexual manner, are well-worth visiting.
Phra Thii Nang Phutthaisawan (Buddhaisawan Chapel; Map) Although construction of this temple, located in the National Museum, began in 1795, the paintings were probably finished during the reign of Rama III (1824–51). Among other scenes, the murals depict the conception, birth and early life of the Buddha – common topics among Thai temple murals.
Wat Suthat (Map) Almost as impressive in their vast scale as in their quality, the murals at Wat Suthat are among the most awe-inspiring in the country. Gory depictions of Buddhist hell can be found on a pillar directly behind the Buddha statue; see Click here for more on Wat Suthat.
Wat Suwannaram (Map) These paintings inside a late Ayuthaya-era temple in Thonburi contain skilled and vivid depictions of battle scenes and foreigners, including Chinese and Muslim warriors.
Wat Tritosathep Mahaworawihan (Map) Although still a work in progress, Chakrabhand Posayakrit’s postmodern murals at this temple in Banglamphu have already been recognised as masterworks of Thai Buddhist art.
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The Modern Era
In 1913 the Thai government opened the School of Arts and Crafts in order to train teachers of art and design as well as to codify the teaching of silversmithing, nielloware, lacquerwork and wood carving in traditional Thai styles. It was an effort that was badly timed, as interest in Thai classicism began to weaken in the aftermath of WWI, perhaps the first event in world history to inspire rank-and-file urban Thais to ponder global issues.
The beginnings of Thailand’s modern visual-arts movement are usually attributed to Italian artist Corrado Feroci, who was invited to Thailand by Rama VI in 1924. In 1933 Feroci founded the country’s first School of Fine Arts (SOFA).
Public monuments sponsored during the Phibun Songkhram government (1938–44) led the government to expand the SOFA’s status in 1943 so that it became part of newly founded Silpakorn University, Thailand’s premier training ground for artists and art historians. Feroci continued as dean of the university, and in gratitude for his contributions, the government gave Feroci the Thai name Silpa Bhirasri.
In 1944 Bhirasri established the National Art Exhibition, which became an important catalyst for the evolution of Thai contemporary art. The first juried art event in Thai history, the annual exhibition created new standards and formed part of a heretofore nonexistent national art agenda. In the absence of galleries in this era, the competition served as the only venue in Bangkok – in all of Thailand, for that matter – where young artists could display their work publicly. Among the most celebrated artworks of the period were works of realism painted by Chamras Khietkong, Piman Moolpramook, Sweang Songmangmee and Silpa Bhirasri himself.
Other artists involved in this blossoming of modern art, including Jitr Buabusaya, Fua Haripitak, Misiem Yipintsoi, Tawee Nandakhwang and Sawasdi Tantisuk, drew on European movements such as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Expressionism and Cubism. For the first time in the Thai modern art movement, there was also a move towards the fusion of indigenous artistic sources with modern modes of expression, as seen in the paintings by Prasong Patamanuj and sculptures of Khien Yimsiri and Chit Rienpracha.
Meanwhile, while writing and lecturing