Fua Haripitak ( th, เฟื้อ หริพิทักษ์) (22 April 1910 – October 1993) was a celebrated Thai artist.

Biography

Early life

Fua was born on 22 April 1910 in

Thonburi __NOTOC__ Thonburi ( th, ธนบุรี) is an area of modern Bangkok. During the era of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, its location on the right (west) bank at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River had made it an important garrison town, which is ...

, the son of a court painter who had served under Phya Anusat Chitrakorn. He studied art for four years at Bangkok's Poh Chang School of Arts and Crafts before quitting after he found the teaching method too academic.

Key works and development

He later graduated from the School of Fine Arts (later known as

Silpakorn University Silpakorn University (SU.) ( th, มหาวิทยาลัยศิลปากร; ) is a national university in Thailand. The university was founded in Bangkok in 1943 by Tuscan–born art professor Corrado Feroci, who took the Thai name S ...

), a student of

Silpa Bhirasri Silpa Bhirasri ( th, ศิลป์ พีระศรี; ; ), born Corrado Feroci (15 September 1892 – 14 May 1962), was a Tuscan-born Thai sculptor. He is considered the father of modern art in Thailand and was instrumental in the found ...

. Among his finest surviving works from that period is an oil portrait titled "My Grand Mother".The portrait can be seen . During 1940-1946, he received a scholarship from Thanomsakdi Kridakorn to study at

Visva Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. After returning to Thailand, he served at Silpakorn University. He won gold metals at the 1st and 2nd National Exhibitions of Art in 1949 and 1950 for "Petchaburi", a tempera on paper and "Portrait of Madame Rienpracha", an oil on canvas. During 1954-1956, he was granted a scholarship by the Italian government to study at the L'accademia Di Belle Arti (The Academy of Fine Art) in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. During this period, he experimented with a variety of painting techniques, including chalk, colored pencils, ink, and the palette knife. He also dabbled with abstract and cubist styles. His subjects were mostly Italian landscapes, but also included some nudes. He was later recognized as a pioneer in Thailand's modern art. In 1957, he again won the gold medal at the National Exhibition of Art. A noted art restorer, from 1969-1982, Fua worked on the restoration of the Tripitaka Library at Wat Rakang Kositaram temple (also known as Wat Bang Wah Yai), built during the reign of King

Rama I Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok Maharaj (, 20 March 1737 – 7 September 1809), personal name Thongduang (), also known as Rama I, was the founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom and the first monarch of the reigning Chakri dynasty of Siam (now Tha ...

. During that period, he paid for part of the restoration with his own funds. The restoration project cost him his health. The right side of his face and right arm were paralyzed. In 1991, he was admitted to

Siriraj Hospital Siriraj Hospital ( th, โรงพยาบาลศิริราช; ) is the oldest and largest hospital in Thailand. It is in Bangkok on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, opposite Thammasat University's Tha Phrachan campus. It is the ...

. He died in October 1993 due to inflamed blood vessels of the brain.

Awards

* 1980 – Honorary doctoral degree in fine arts,

. * 1983 –

Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealis ...

for public service. The award citation noted his "life-long profession of seeking the origins of his national artistic tradition, preserving the tradition, and through painting, restoration, writing and teaching, enlivening it with a future". * 1985 – Named

National Artist National Artist is an honorary title issued by some states as a highest recognition of artists for their significant contributions to the cultural heritage of the nation. An equivalent title, People's Artist, has been known in countries of the f ...

, the inaugural year for the honor. * 1990 – Recognized by the Thai government as an Outstanding Cultural Conservator.

References

Part 1
an
Part 2
of a short biography, in which

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

newspaper cited him as one of the 35 most influential Thais
Short profile

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haripitak, Fua 1910 births 1993 deaths

Fua Haripitak Fua Haripitak ( th, เฟื้อ หริพิทักษ์) (22 April 1910 – October 1993) was a celebrated Thai artist. Biography Early life Fua was born on 22 April 1910 in Thonburi, the son of a court painter who had served under ...

20th-century painters Ramon Magsaysay Award winners