welcome back in our journey to discover the evolution of thai paintings over the 20st century! part ii on our second chapter, we will truly begin the 20st century by exploring a period where european culture realy flourished in siam and witnessing the construction of... ta-da-da!
Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, the ananta samakhom throne hall to begin, as you may or may not have known, the late 1800s oversaw siam being threatened with western expansionism by the french and british virtually every country in asia has been colonized by the europeans except for siam
so in order to prevent the country from being taken over king chulalongkorn (better known as king rama v) had to give up parts of siam and reform the country into an absolute monarchy to show off the country as 'civilized' the king brought western culture, education, and technology to siam if khru in khong started the westernizing of thai art, this completed it so, the dawn of the 20th century saw king chulalongkorn employing italian artists over to siam gone was the norm of thai monks as artists the king hired some of the best artists from florence, italy (then known to be the center of the renaissance)
and brought them over to build and paint various palaces and temples in bangkok, the capital of siam one palace in particular, became the center of european art in thailand the ananta samakhom throne hall was ordered by king rama v in 1907 and was finished in 1915, in the reign of king rama vi built in exquisite renaissance and neoclassical styles, the throne hall formerly served as a reception hall within dusit palace and since now has become a museum for all to visit the ananta samakhom throne hall was built by architects annibale rigotti and mario tamagno
and was lavishly painted by artist galileo chini hey look! galileo chini's beeping! it's as if he wants to say something about himself let's see what he has to say galileo chini was a revered florentine artist, best known for introducing neo-renaissance and art nouveau styles in his paintings, frescoes, and terracotta decorations in 1907, he was discoevered by king rama v in the venice biennale,
a prominent art exhibition at that time the king must've been impressed with his work, because just three years later, he was commissioned to paint the frescoes inside the ananta samakhom throne hall in fact, here are what some of them looked like and boy, do they look beautiful! chini's frescoes resembled classic renaissance frescoes like those of the sistine chapel or st. peter's basilica,
but decorated with elaborate siamese backgrounds and historical figures if you're a lover of classical art and thai culture, you better visit the ananta samakhom throne hall the sheer magnificence of the frescoes there will leave you staring in awe how is the ananta samakhom throne hall significant to thai art? well, it marked a major cornerstone in the evolution of thai culture, due to western culture flourishing in bangkok many old thai traditions, like the association of thai art with buddhism
were replaced with european political art styles never has european art flourished to this level in siam, and it left a whole galleria of thai architecture in its wake by now, ladies and gentlemen, we have covered two timelines in our journey but while khru in khong introduced european art to siam, and the ananta samakhom throne hall saw it flourishing, the next chapter will see it be raised to its apex by a single individual coming next, silpa bhirasri
thailand's greatest modern artist
welcome back in our journey to discover the evolution of thai paintings over the 20st century! part ii on our second chapter, we will truly begin the 20st century by exploring a period where european culture realy flourished in siam and witnessing the construction of... ta-da-da!
Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, the ananta samakhom throne hall to begin, as you may or may not have known, the late 1800s oversaw siam being threatened with western expansionism by the french and british virtually every country in asia has been colonized by the europeans except for siam
so in order to prevent the country from being taken over king chulalongkorn (better known as king rama v) had to give up parts of siam and reform the country into an absolute monarchy to show off the country as 'civilized' the king brought western culture, education, and technology to siam if khru in khong started the westernizing of thai art, this completed it so, the dawn of the 20th century saw king chulalongkorn employing italian artists over to siam gone was the norm of thai monks as artists the king hired some of the best artists from florence, italy (then known to be the center of the renaissance)
and brought them over to build and paint various palaces and temples in bangkok, the capital of siam one palace in particular, became the center of european art in thailand the ananta samakhom throne hall was ordered by king rama v in 1907 and was finished in 1915, in the reign of king rama vi built in exquisite renaissance and neoclassical styles, the throne hall formerly served as a reception hall within dusit palace and since now has become a museum for all to visit the ananta samakhom throne hall was built by architects annibale rigotti and mario tamagno
and was lavishly painted by artist galileo chini hey look! galileo chini's beeping! it's as if he wants to say something about himself let's see what he has to say galileo chini was a revered florentine artist, best known for introducing neo-renaissance and art nouveau styles in his paintings, frescoes, and terracotta decorations in 1907, he was discoevered by king rama v in the venice biennale,
a prominent art exhibition at that time the king must've been impressed with his work, because just three years later, he was commissioned to paint the frescoes inside the ananta samakhom throne hall in fact, here are what some of them looked like and boy, do they look beautiful! chini's frescoes resembled classic renaissance frescoes like those of the sistine chapel or st. peter's basilica,
but decorated with elaborate siamese backgrounds and historical figures if you're a lover of classical art and thai culture, you better visit the ananta samakhom throne hall the sheer magnificence of the frescoes there will leave you staring in awe how is the ananta samakhom throne hall significant to thai art? well, it marked a major cornerstone in the evolution of thai culture, due to western culture flourishing in bangkok many old thai traditions, like the association of thai art with buddhism
were replaced with european political art styles never has european art flourished to this level in siam, and it left a whole galleria of thai architecture in its wake by now, ladies and gentlemen, we have covered two timelines in our journey but while khru in khong introduced european art to siam, and the ananta samakhom throne hall saw it flourishing, the next chapter will see it be raised to its apex by a single individual coming next, silpa bhirasri
thailand's greatest modern artist