Keen eye for detail

NEARLY 130 works of art, including paintings, drawings, graphic prints and sculptures were displayed at the annual exhibition organised by the Tamil Nadu Ovia Nunkalai Kuzhu recently. This included the paintings by the two senior artists, A. Perumal and Henry Daniel, who were conferred the title, ``Kalaichemmal'' on the inaugural day by the Minister for Official Language, Tamil Culture and Hindu Religious Endowment, Dr. Tamilkudimagan.

Eighty-five year old A. Perumal from Madurai, went to Shantiniketan as a young man to study art and was a student of Nandalal Bose. The Bengal school stamp is obvious in his water colours; the paintings of animals and birds in tempera technique reveal careful observation and his keen eye for details. He is known for his depiction of Nature on the mud walls of the homes of the Santal tribals.

Daniel was a student of Roy Choudhury and K.C.S. Panicker at the School of Arts and Crafts, Chennai. His sense of colour is reflected in his landscapes as well as the abstract works that have an almost nonchalant style.

Cash awards of Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 5,000 were given to five senior artists and 10 juniors respectively. One of the seniors, Richard Jesudoss has not exhibited any works of his for a long time.

His bronze sculpture ``Island'' was an interesting concept; this would have been more interesting if it was larger; as it is, the bronze forms appeared at first like functional objects but turned out to be stylised, compact human forms without much anatomical details.

Like Jesudoss, L. Shanmugasundaram was also a teacher at the College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai.

LAKSHMI VENKATRAMAN

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