[1] His oil paintings were quiet and academic in their style, but display occasional flashes of virtuosity and brilliance in bold, impasto brushstroke and skillful handling of the medium.

He was noticed by the Maubin district officer who persuaded the government to support him in studying at the Norman School in Mawlamyaing under Saya Ba Lwin.

[3][5][6] He returned in 1925 full of enthusiasm about western oil painting techniques, and began depicting the Burmese countryside in the style of conservative British landscape artists.

[1][5] When he returned to Burma in 1930, his experience in London had earned him a formidable reputation and he was able to mount one-man art exhibitions and received various commissions from the government and wealthy patrons.

[5][8] During this period, the war-time prime minister of Burma, U Ba Maw, traveled to Japan on official business and presented two of Ba Nyan's paintings to Kuniaki Koiso, the Japanese Prime Minister, and a third painting, a landscape of the Shwedagon Pagoda, entitled Night of the Shwedagon, to Emperor Hirohito.