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Lot Essay
Regarded as a pioneering artist who transformed Thailand’s artistic landscape, Thawan Duchanee systematically challenged traditional aesthetics throughout his lifetime. Inspired by Buddhist mysticism, Surrealist ideology, and notably German Expressionism in earlier works, his paintings are visual allegories rich with meaning and nuances.
Scream of Sorrowful is an exceptional piece from his oeuvre. Thawan believed that creative expression superseded nature and the intellect, for surrounding oneself with art was akin to a spiritual awakening. This painting was created in a transitional period of the artist’s life. Painted in 1968 it celebrates the year that he returned to Thailand after studying for four years at Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) in The Netherlands with a government scholarship. It should be noted that this painting was part of one of his first exhibitions back on Thai soil and was featured in the local newspaper Siamrath as the cover image of the publication issue accompanied together with a lengthy exhibition review. In the same pivotal year, Thawan stated his ambition in the Thai journal, Dam Daeng Paritat, as he embarked on a radical and transformative exploration of Buddhist iconography and aesthetics in his artistic creation.
This work references Classical Figurative Painting, Surrealism, Cubism, and the Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider Group) art movement, while alluding to his Thai heritage and hunting youth growing up in Northern Thailand. Distinctly academic in composition, Scream of Sorrowful pays homage to what he learnt abroad, while conversely revealing the origins of key motifs such as the buffalo head and the sphere-like moon that would become favored images in later artworks. On the other hand, the depiction of female figures is rare in Thawan’s oeuvre, appearing only once before in a linocut work, Girl Asleep in the Forest. Alluding to the duality of human existence, the double women motif adds a layer of earnest contemplation and delicate reflection on human desire in a way that is unseen in his other works. The sparse use of colours is a deliberate ploy by the artist to punctuate the optimistic moments highlighting the composition, for the warm colours of the huddled figures, the yellow moon surrounded by celestial bodies, as well as the rainbow detail guide the viewer to appreciate these moments of clarity within a painting otherwise governed by sombre tones. As the title suggests it is human existence that is the focal point of the narrative, all the angst and complexities that make up an individual’s livelihood.
Throughout the 1960s, Thawan embraced Western motifs as a means to forge new ground in his creative expression, as well as to separate himself from the art influencing Thailand during this period that pandered to Buddhist aesthetics. Scream of Sorrowful alludes to Picasso’s 1937 masterpiece Guernica, for the strong linear brushstrokes of the animal’s head are Cubist in style and precision. Within Thai culture the buffalo is an important archetype in animal symbolism as it represents perseverance and strength—hallmarks of Thawan’s philosophy as an artist and as a man. This animal would come to dominate his oeuvre, for he felt a kinship with the buffalo, and it would be seen as his animal totem going forward.
Scream of Sorrowful is a very rare painting that shows the artist beginning to cultivate these later themes, finessing his signature aesthetics that would come to define his oeuvre. Therefore, as an important part of his artistic legacy, this painting is a revealing look at an artist learning his creative vocabulary and strengthening his allegorical narratives that underline the importance of spiritual enlightenment.
As a Thai artist Thawan Duchanee embraced Buddhist ideology, for it was part of his cultural upbringing. However, unlike his peers, he would conceptualise Buddhist iconography into his works as animal imagery to represent the primal emotions of human beings. His depiction of mankind is simultaneously violent and peaceful, the artistic pendulum swinging from both extremes smoothly. It is these contradictions that make Scream of Sorrowful an arresting early work from his career and establish Thawan Duchanee as an important part of Thailand’s art history.
Scream of Sorrowful is an exceptional piece from his oeuvre. Thawan believed that creative expression superseded nature and the intellect, for surrounding oneself with art was akin to a spiritual awakening. This painting was created in a transitional period of the artist’s life. Painted in 1968 it celebrates the year that he returned to Thailand after studying for four years at Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) in The Netherlands with a government scholarship. It should be noted that this painting was part of one of his first exhibitions back on Thai soil and was featured in the local newspaper Siamrath as the cover image of the publication issue accompanied together with a lengthy exhibition review. In the same pivotal year, Thawan stated his ambition in the Thai journal, Dam Daeng Paritat, as he embarked on a radical and transformative exploration of Buddhist iconography and aesthetics in his artistic creation.
This work references Classical Figurative Painting, Surrealism, Cubism, and the Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider Group) art movement, while alluding to his Thai heritage and hunting youth growing up in Northern Thailand. Distinctly academic in composition, Scream of Sorrowful pays homage to what he learnt abroad, while conversely revealing the origins of key motifs such as the buffalo head and the sphere-like moon that would become favored images in later artworks. On the other hand, the depiction of female figures is rare in Thawan’s oeuvre, appearing only once before in a linocut work, Girl Asleep in the Forest. Alluding to the duality of human existence, the double women motif adds a layer of earnest contemplation and delicate reflection on human desire in a way that is unseen in his other works. The sparse use of colours is a deliberate ploy by the artist to punctuate the optimistic moments highlighting the composition, for the warm colours of the huddled figures, the yellow moon surrounded by celestial bodies, as well as the rainbow detail guide the viewer to appreciate these moments of clarity within a painting otherwise governed by sombre tones. As the title suggests it is human existence that is the focal point of the narrative, all the angst and complexities that make up an individual’s livelihood.
Throughout the 1960s, Thawan embraced Western motifs as a means to forge new ground in his creative expression, as well as to separate himself from the art influencing Thailand during this period that pandered to Buddhist aesthetics. Scream of Sorrowful alludes to Picasso’s 1937 masterpiece Guernica, for the strong linear brushstrokes of the animal’s head are Cubist in style and precision. Within Thai culture the buffalo is an important archetype in animal symbolism as it represents perseverance and strength—hallmarks of Thawan’s philosophy as an artist and as a man. This animal would come to dominate his oeuvre, for he felt a kinship with the buffalo, and it would be seen as his animal totem going forward.
Scream of Sorrowful is a very rare painting that shows the artist beginning to cultivate these later themes, finessing his signature aesthetics that would come to define his oeuvre. Therefore, as an important part of his artistic legacy, this painting is a revealing look at an artist learning his creative vocabulary and strengthening his allegorical narratives that underline the importance of spiritual enlightenment.
As a Thai artist Thawan Duchanee embraced Buddhist ideology, for it was part of his cultural upbringing. However, unlike his peers, he would conceptualise Buddhist iconography into his works as animal imagery to represent the primal emotions of human beings. His depiction of mankind is simultaneously violent and peaceful, the artistic pendulum swinging from both extremes smoothly. It is these contradictions that make Scream of Sorrowful an arresting early work from his career and establish Thawan Duchanee as an important part of Thailand’s art history.