Untitled

Altaf’s studies of the human figure, which were a prominent part of his early oeuvre, reveal the unusual angles with which his artistic eye looked at ordinary people and things. It is his atypical vision of his subjects that made his simple drawings, such as this one, appealing; its reverse carries another doodle. Here, he has cast his look upon a young woman, seated rather attentively in a chair—her alertness is evident in the way she holds the arm of the chair, as if she could be expected to get up at short notice. Dressed in European workwear, she could belong to any profession but it is her stance of ready to move any minute that reveals the artist’s command over his lines.