Blue King

Widely recognised as one of the most gifted artists of his time, Natee Utarit employs the rich pictorial language of Western painting to obliquely comment on contemporary socio-political realities in Thailand, where the overt criticism of religion and the monarchy is still regarded as taboo.  

In Blue King,(2008) Utarit presents a portrait of King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) of Siam.  Educated in Oxford, King Vajiravudh also served briefly in the British Army before he ascended the throne in 1910.  King Vajiravudh embraced Western innovation and modernisation like his grandfather, King Mongkut, and father, King Chulalongkorn, before him. Allying with Britain, France, Russia, and the United States in WW1, he  modernised the national flag of Thailand to echo the colours of these powerful allies. The flag’s red, white, and blue stripes have since then symbolised “Nation, Religion, and King” for the Thai people. 

The work recalls the statue of King Rama VI in Bangkok’s Lumphini Park. In Utarit’s painting, the blue figure looking towards the far distance subtly asks if the Thai monarchy’s future will be just as glorious as its past.