Paw Thame

Paw Thame (1948–2014)

Paw Thame developed artistically in the studios of Mandalay. Though largely self-taught, he found an early mentor in Aung Khin, Burma’s premier Impressionist. Drawn to modernism, he worked to move beyond the prevailing artistic conventions of the era. Win Pe—then Dean of the Mandalay School of Fine Arts—recognized his potential and provided him with essential materials. Paw Thame soon became a fixture in the studios of Win Pe and the pioneering modernist Kin Maung (Bank), establishing lifelong professional connections that shaped his use of line and color.

In 1975, Paw Thame founded the Peacock Gallery in Rangoon—Burma’s first space devoted exclusively to modern art. At a time when modernism was widely dismissed by the public, he galvanized a core generation of pioneers, including Bagyi Aung Soe, Win Pe, and Kin Maung Yin. Operating under the severe political constraints of the socialist era, the group introduced a radical new visual language to the country through painting, batik, and early experimental sculpture.

Paw Thame emigrated to the United States in 1985, later becoming an American citizen, where he produced some of his most expressive paintings. Following Win Pe’s arrival in America in 1994, the two masters resumed their close collaboration. In 2008, a partnership with BMA founder Chris Dodge initiated a focused period of painting, archival documentation, and select international exhibition. Through an extensive email correspondence with Dodge, and working alongside editor Ma Thanegi, Paw Thame authored I Am Cadmium Red—a rare, candid memoir of life as a Burmese modernist.

His legacy is documented in Hlaing Bwa’s 2016 monograph, The Life and Work of Paw Thame