U Ba Nyan’s (1897-1945) formal training was largely European in style and content. The artist’s talent was recognised when he was only fourteen years old when his paintings of the King George and Queen Mary attracted the admiration of the Deputy Commissioner of Pantanaw district, who arranged for Ba Nyan to complete his education on a scholarship to St Mathew’s Teacher Training School in Mawlamyine. The principal of this school was E. G. N. Kinch, who later served as chairman of the Burma Art Club. Founded in 1913 and formalised in 1918 by Kenneth Martin Ward, a professor of engineering at Rangoon University, this was the only art society active in Burma during the 1910s and 20s. Kinch arranged for his pupil to further his studies in Rangoon with Ward as well as Gordon Luce, a British archaeologist and historian of Burmese visual culture. Ba Nyan so distinguished himself in Rangoon that he became the first Burmese artist specialising in painting to receive a scholarship to London. As a student, Ba Nyan attended the Royal Academy of Art for a year and a half before completing his training with Frank Spenlove-Spenlove, who had also been Ward’s teacher. After spending time in the UK from 1921-1924, he was sent there again in 1925-1930 on another scholarship. Nude continued to be a rare subject in Burmese paintings from the early 20th century into the post-independence period. This painting may have been created during his time in Europe or afterwards from memory. Marked by expressive gestural brushstroke and assured command of anatomy, it signals a mastery of Western aesthetics by Ba Nyan.
