Paw Thame

Paw Thame (1948–2014) was a Burmese-American painter and one of the central figures of the modernist art movement in Burma during the 1970s and early 1980s. Born in Shwebo, he was largely self-taught, developing his practice through informal study with the pioneer modernists Aung Khin and Kin Maung (Bank), before moving to Rangoon, where he co-founded the Peacock Gallery in 1976 with sculptor Sonny Nyein — the first gallery in Burma devoted entirely to modern art. His circle included Win Pe, Kin Maung Yin, and Bagyi Aung Soe, artists now regarded as the founding generation of Burmese modernism.

Paw Thame emigrated to the United States in 1984, settling initially in Hawaii before moving to the mainland. His memoir I Am Cadmium Red (2010), edited by the Burmese writer Ma Thanegi, is regarded as an important primary document in the history of Burmese modernism.

Early life

Paw Thame was born in 1948 in Shwebo, Burma. He graduated from Mandalay University. He subsequently attempted to enroll at the Mandalay School of Fine Arts, but the school was unable to accommodate his need for evening classes; the school's dean directed him to the studio of Aung Khin (1921–1996), one of the foundational figures of Burmese modernism.

Education and Artistic Formation

Riding his bicycle to Aung Khin's studio, Paw Thame became a regular presence there — a habitué of the master's studio — where he was treated like a son. He absorbed the technical fundamentals of painting by observation, but was drawn not to Aung Khin's Impressionism — which he had already encountered through books — but to more radical modes.