signed and dated lower right
oil on canvas
132 x 109 cm, 150 x 126 cm (framed)
Lot location
Bangkok, Thailand. On display at 333 Gallery.
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Pratuang Emjaroen: The Inner Cosmos
One of Thailand’s most influential modern painters, Pratuang Emjaroen (1935–2022) transformed spiritual contemplation into a distinctly personal visual language. Educated at Silpakorn University under the legacy of Professor Silpa Bhirasri, Emjaroen developed a style that blended Buddhist philosophy, symbolism, and abstraction into luminous compositions exploring humanity’s relationship with the cosmos.
Painted in 1979, Grain of Virtue reflects the artist’s mature fascination with metaphysical space. Dominated by a radiant central form emerging from expansive fields of colour, the work evokes themes of enlightenment, growth, and transcendence. Rather than depicting nature literally, Emjaroen constructs an imagined spiritual landscape in which symbolic forms become vehicles for meditation and inner reflection.
Executed during one of the most significant periods of the artist’s career, the painting demonstrates Emjaroen’s masterful command of colour as both structure and emotion. Balancing abstraction with symbolic clarity, Grain of Virtue exemplifies his enduring contribution to Southeast Asian modernism, where painting serves not merely as representation but as a contemplative experience.
