Students create a masterpiece in tribute to the ‘Supreme Artist’

TO REMEMBER His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej as the “Supreme Artist”, a group of Silpakorn art students have turned their university’s white wall into a public art gallery. 
Nine portraits depicting the late monarch’s artistic talents are now on display at the university’s Tha Phra campus, which is opposite the Grand Palace where His Majesty’s body is lying in state. 
The portraits, including those of His Majesty painting, playing the saxophone, taking photographs, penning books, building a sailboat and sailing, have been put together in a mural on a two-by-two metre wall. 
Completed early yesterday morning, the mural has become a major attraction for mourners to visit in memory of the beloved monarch and take photographs. 
“As art students, we wanted to show our respects to the Supreme Artist through this mural,” the students said. 
The mural is painted in sepia tones with dark shades. 
“The main portrait depicts the King painting one of his well-known brightly coloured semi-abstracts,” said Napat “Butterfly” Kaewmanee, a new graduate who painted that part of the image. 
“Each piece is mounted as a unified whole and painted as a cloud to symbolise his ascent to heaven,” said Naphat Phatarapornlert, who painted the image of His Majesty writing a book. 
More than 100 students and new graduates initiated this project on Friday, which cost them about Bt60,000. 
“We collected money to purchase plywood instead of canvas because it’s cheaper, so we could buy plastic paint, which is used for exteriors,” said Pituk Imtarapasit, who painted the image of His Majesty taking a photograph. 
Pongpan Chantan Mattha, associate dean of the Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts Faculty, said he was very proud of his students. 
“They initiated the project themselves and the university only provided them with some advice. The painting will be hanging for a year during the mourning period. This action only proves that they have good hearts,” the associate dean said. 
The students said they learned more from working on the project than they would have in class, adding that working on the mural taught them lessons on harmony and perseverance. Each image took three students or more to complete – making it a team endeavour. 
“I was so emotional, yet so proud of myself while painting my part of the mural,” Naphat Phatarapornlert, a third-year student, said.
“While painting in class, you can display your individual style. Here it was teamwork, so I could not use my signature style of quick brushstrokes, but instead had to follow the theme of soft and linear brush strokes.” 
Pakorn Sonsri, another third-year student who teamed up with four |others to complete the portrait of His Majesty playing the piano, said, “The painting was not good enough as the tones were not in harmony, so we had to repaint it. It made us so proud and emotional when we completed it and saw people looking at it with tears in their eyes.”