Aung Soe
| Bagyi Aung Soe ဗဂျီ အောင်စိုး |
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| Born | 1924 Rangoon, British Burma |
| Died | 1990 (aged 66) Yangon, Myanmar |
| Nationality | Burmese |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Modernist (abstract-figurative)Painting |
Bagyi Aung Soe (Burmese: ဗဂျီ အောင်စိုး [bədʑì ʔàʊɴ só]; 1924–1990) was a Burmese painter renowned for his modernistic, semi-abstract art, which caused such a shock in Burma when it appeared that many called it "psychopathic art". The name "Bagyi" is his phonetic spelling of the word "pangyi", meaning "painting", which he first added to his name in 1955.
The Indian government offered him a scholarship in 1951 to study art at Santiniketan, founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, but he chose to return to Burma after only a year. He traveled throughout Burma studying its handicrafts, classical art and architecture, especially that of Bagan. In early 1953 one of Aung Soe's abstract paintings was published in Shumawa magazine, causing considerable controversy. Some said that the artist was mad.
In the winter of 1953 he was able to visit Peshawar, Afghanistan and Moscow for art studies. It has been alleged that in Russia he saw the works of modern European masters such as Picasso, Matisse and Kandinsky, but this can hardly be true because the work of the European modern masters was in deep storage in Russia and unavailable to public view during the Stainist period and for many years afterwards. However, it is clear that Aung Soe was influenced by European painters such as Picasso and Matisse, probably Japanese painting (one work shows influence of sumi-e), and the work of painters at Santiniketan, both contemporary and deceased, whose works were in the Santiniketan Museum. During his time at Santiniketan, Aung Soe met the Indonesian expressionist painter Affandi, who also influenced him. In addition to these foreign influences, Aung Soe was deeply influenced by the long history of Burmese Traditional painting, stretching back to the time of Bagan, which can still be seen on the walls of temples of the old city there.
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