First introduced by Corrado Ferroci (Silpa Bhirasri) and fellow scholars in the mid-nineteenth century, modern Thai art has evolved through the adaptation of numerous art styles. Western art is regarded as the catalyst of the development of modern Thai art. Specifically, movements such as Realism, Impressionism, and Cubism have had a significant impact on modern sculptors and painters. The Impressionist method, which was novel and fascinating to Thai painters, was showing up as an adapted style used in cityscapes, landscapes, and floating market scenes.
During the 1930’s to 1940’s, both Modernism and Nationalism progressed in Thailand. This brought a change in the way Thai society viewed artists. From having a social standing equivalent to a manual laborer to being accepted as a legitimate role in society, artists undertook an enormous advance in modern Thai art. Society began to open their eyes and began appreciating modern expression. Bhirasri was a leading force in the development of modern Thai art, as he established the Silpakorn University, a school of Fine Arts. Through momentous events like the National Exhibition of Art, sponsored by the university and recognized by the government, modern art was increasing accepted to the point where it had priority over traditional art.
In trying to adopt Western methods into their art, modern Thai sculptors imported Western styles but blended it with Thai subjects, producing individual artistic personalities. They looked towards somehow integrating European realistic methods with their own Thai characteristics. Often, this resulted in awkward and unresolved modes of representation as they attempted to find and develop their own forms of expression. The challenge of finding a successful synthesis of the two contradictory qualities, however, was met by sculptors like Cham Khaomeecheu. Khaomeecheu’s The Archer (c. 1935-8) is identical to Antoine Bourdelle’s Heracles the Archer (1909) in both posture and composition. It is the difference of Thai hairstyle and bone structure that gives this piece a unique fusion of East and West.
Thai sculptors had a great appreciation for European realism. It gave them an opportunity to display their talent in treating anatomy, proportion, and texture. It was a change from the strict canons of traditional Buddhist art. Pimarn Mulpramook’s Monk (1947-9) is an example of treating a conventional subject with realistic methods. He shows the use of strong emphasis on details, such as wrinkles and bone structure. Although the representation of realistic details may appear academic, it was considered modern in Thailand. Sawang Songmangmee’s Bloom (1949) also continues the balance between European realistic techniques and Thai content. The young girl holds a budding lotus as she takes no notice of any viewers. Her body is a metaphor for the lotus as she too is flowering into a beautiful woman. This piece is rendered very realistically, yet concentrates on Thai identity through her distinct ethnic characteristics.
Another talented sculptor is Paitun Muangsomboon. His sculpture of animals, such as Calf (1951) shows his ability to model freestanding figures and reveals his sharp observational skills. His strong sense of realism that was acquired while studying in Europe and America is clear in his anatomical details and poses. While maintaining figurative realism, however, he also began to experiment with abstraction of form. For example, Acrobats No.2 (1962) shows abstract bronze figures elegantly balanced in space.
Originating in Paris, Impressionism had finally reached Thailand by the 1940’s and 1950’s. And having a tremendous influence on modern Thai art, Fua Haribhitak is known as an artist whose style was commonly referred to as "impressionistic." To him, impressionism meant to record lines, colors, and plastic volumes. Impressionism, along with Realism, according to Bhirasri, is the first stage of training in modern art.
Fua Haribhitak, one of the most important figures in modern Thai painting, shows his assimilation of Western techniques of drawing and painting in works such as Professor Feroci (1935) and My Grandmother (1940). Fua broke away from the traditional constraints of orthodox, academic techniques and developed a style incorporating rapid strokes in an impressionistic manner. Seen in Fua’s Fraglioni Rocks (1955) the bold marks made from the brush and palette knife clearly give off his sense of self-confidence as a modern painter. The blue-gray colors in communion with the dabs of white and cream highlight areas of flickering light. Through his technique and intensity of all his colors, Fua was able to portray the bright light of the island.
But not only did Fua constrain his style to only Impressionism, he was an artist torn between Realism and Impressionism. His 1955 painting Composition, depicts a nude seated on a chair with one arm placed on the backrest. Not intending to produce a realistic portrait and deliberately portraying a two-dimensional surface, Fua combines the techniques of both Realism and Impressionism. He uses the brush and his depiction of light and shade not with the aim to recreate the subject, but to include it as a part of the composition.
Over time, Fua also developed an interest in Cubism, as can be seen in his paintings Blue-Green (1956) and Chromatic Variations (1956). Still keeping the female figure as a major vehicle of expression, the attention to detail is radically reduced. Inspired by Pablo Picasso’s paintings such as les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), Nu dans une Froret (1908), and Trois Femmes (1907-8), Fua took a liking in twisting and contorting human forms in a way that it did not enclose the borders of the picture. While emphasizing the knife-like sharpness of the ridges of the figures, Fua was able to boldly, yet delicately, model the forms. Even by the title Blue-Green Fua most likely was trying to draw a parallel with Picasso’s Blue period (1901-4) and Rose period (1904-6), named after the dominant colors of his paintings.
Another artist who developed his style of painting from sources such as Impressionism, Cubism, as well as from observing his various surroundings, was Tawee. Tawee, a northerner from Lamphun, focused on aspects of modernity in the environs of Bangkok, using more subtle images to indicate change in social existence. In Wat Bho (1953) Tawee chose to explore vision and content in the famous temple. This was a reminder that even while living in the fast-paced life in Bangkok, people could find peace and serenity within the compounds of Buddhist temples. To give a sense of structure and solidity, Tawee used low-key tones. Using choppy brushwork, Tawee emphasized the dark outlines. And by using dabs of white and yellow, he was able to evoke shimmering light reflecting on mosaics and tiles.
Chamras Kietkong’s Nude (1949) depicts a reclining woman in a posture similar to Giorgionne’s Sleeping Venus (1505-10) or Manet’s Olympia (1865). It is very likely that Chamras was influenced by reproductions of these European paintings by other Thai artists like Phra Soralaklikhit. The portrayal of nude women, clearly not young and innocent but rather promiscuous, must have raised the issue of immorality among the Thai audience.
One of the first Thai artists to experiment with Post-Impressionism, Cubism and Futurism was Prasong Padamanuja. At Silpakorn University, he was introduced to Vincent Van Gogh’s work, which led him to favor brilliant and pure colors rather than dark brown tones. In his paintings like Wat Bho (1958), he used Cubist-Futurist techniques to suggest the sensation of light reflecting on glittering surfaces. With the use of bright colors, he successfully captured the brilliant luminosity of sunlight on the mosaics and gilded temples of Bangkok. Also, his Design for Mobil Oil Limited (1950) is the closest Thai version of Futurism. The Mobil logo— a flying horse with widespread wings soars over high-rise buildings and sparkling temples of Bangkok. However, this painting rejects the European traditional concept of space by making them appear as if they are dematerializing through the use of an iridescent color palette. Furthermore, Prasong uses diagonals to form Futurist-Cubist division of planes to create distinct forms. The merge of the Mobil logo and Prasong’s painting style reflect the rise of Modernism in Thai society.
Many Thai artists were inspired by Cubism by both education at Silpakorn University and from art books and paintings of well-known artists like Fua and Sawasdi. Sompot Upa-In, a promising student of Bhirasri, experimented in modern art that was inspired by a range of artists, such as Picasso and Moore. By taking Bhirasri’s course on aesthetics, he learned to look towards the European masters to recognize and appreciate innovative ideas in art. For example, his painting Woman (1959) shows Picasso’s influence as he used multi-faceted figures. A clearer example is The Politician (1958), which is a study of analytical Cubism. It echoes Picasso’s The Poet (1911) in the way it creates native subject matter. For example, both heads of the poet and the politician are composed if flat, transparent, and overlapping planes. Sompot’s work also illustrates the simultaneous presentation of different views of an object through techniques like superimposing and turning upside down. Traces of eyes, hands, and feet can be interpreted through an arrangement of blocks.
With a huge influence from Silpa, Thailand was able to undergo the transition into modern art. Drawing and sculpting in the Western fashion was with the contribution of Silpa. As Khien Yimsiri, Thailand's leading sculptor and a student of Silpa Bhirasri, once wrote of his mentor's childhood: "He never liked formal education. Oftentimes, he played truancy in order to spend time with painters and sculptors observing them while they worked in the studios of Florence. The time he spent with them won him friends among the artists for whom he occasionally volunteered to run errands. He eventually developed a genuine fondness for art, although his newfound passion never won his parents' approval, as they had wanted him to grow in the tradition of the family and become a merchant. But, thanks to his artistic inclination, the artist's trait was already evident, even in his childhood…"