Untitled

A drawing is often the true mirror of an artist’s potential and this early drawing by Surendran Nair showcases the strengths he would go on to display in the years to come. This drawing, of a seated old man, dates from 1976, when he was at the threshold of joining the College of Fine Arts, Trivandrum. Nair focuses on the sinewy musculature of the man, indicating him to be a man of the soil, perhaps, requested by the artist to sit for his portrait. The artist deliberately leaves out the eyes and the mouth blank, erasing all emotions off the figure and choosing to focus instead on his well-built body.