U Kan Nyunt was born in Sagaing Division in 1917. During the British colonial period, he studied at the State School of Fine Arts, which was first established in 1939. In 1955, he then served as an art instructor at the State School of Fine Arts in Mandalay.

U Kan Nyunt retired from the post of headmaster in 1980 and carried on with painting for the rest of his life. If they were able to realize the true values and characteristics of the fine arts, the artist would feel confident that he had contributed something valuable to the human world indeed. U Kan Nyunt passed away at the Workers’ Hospital in Mandalay on 30 September 2005, leaving his wife Daw Khin Khin and family.