"Paw Thit could have taught Kyaw Win much about the meaning of art; instead Burma?s best-loved art critic is behind bars, a victim of the system the inscrutable Kyaw Win represents. No Burmese artist or art lover could ever fail to recognize the title of A Quest for Beauty, a celebrated book of art criticism by a writer of rare gifts named Paw Thit. This excellent handbook of Burmese art history, covering every imaginable "ism", has earned the admiration of countless aficionados of the fine arts in Burma. Certainly, a passionate amateur painter like Maj-Gen Kyaw Win, deputy to Military Intelligence (MI) chief Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, could be counted among those who can truly appreciate Paw Thit�s sensitivity to line and color, light and shade, perspective and depth of artistic vision. And if Paw Thit ever had a chance to review Kyaw Win?s work on display at the G. V. Gallery, in Rangoon?s exclusive Golden Valley suburb, he would no doubt offer words of encouragement to this dedicated dilettante. Cutting a dignified but kindly figure, he might make a critical comparison to the work of U Lun Kywe, Burma?s most famous impressionist painter, while acknowledging that Kyaw Win had true talent and an eye for beauty. Sadly, however, this encounter is unlikely to ever take place. For Paw Thit, Burma?s most respected art critic, is none other than U Win Tin, a veteran journalist who was once one of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?s most valued advisors?s role that has cost him his freedom. For a dozen years now, U Win Tin, a.k.a. Paw Thit, has been a political prisoner in Rangoon?s infamous Insein Prison. Held in solitary confinement for more than a decade, but unbent in his convictions, he continues to exert inestimable influence on Burma?s artistic community..."