Untitled

In his initial years at the art school, M. Senathipathi was greatly influenced by some of the Western masters, but most of all, the works of Vincent van Gogh impacted him profoundly. While his pen-and-ink renderings initially resembled A. P. Santhanaraj’s works—the latter, his instructor—Senathipathi gradually developed a style of his own while experimenting with various mediums. His use of line was markedly individual, as seen in this painting, and he often drew inspiration from kolam (geometrical floor drawings) patterns, yantric diagrams and folk geometric forms and shapes.