The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Masterpieces of late S.S. Manian on display

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
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Masterpieces of late S.S. Manian on display

Staff Reporter

— Photo: S.S. Kumar

INTRICATE WORK: Visitors at the exhibition in the Government Museum on Monday.

Chennai: An exhibition of intricate drawings by the late S.S. Manian will be on display at the Government Museum till Friday.

The pen-and-ink drawings of old buildings of Chennai bring out the artist’s eye for detail. His drawings include the Egmore Andrews Church, the Vivekananda Illam, the Thousand Lights Mosque, the Kapaleeswarar Temple, the Gandhi Mandapam, the Madras Literary Society and the Life Insurance Corporation of India building. Manian died on March 17 this year. He was 72. Even minutes before his death, he was working on what he loved all his life. He suffered from a heart attack while demonstrating his artistic skills at the Kala Mela organised at the Government Museum, said his son Kumar.

Mr. Kumar is in the process of collecting his father’s art work that are “scattered” in various places in order to have a public exhibition. “If you were to tell my father that you liked his drawing or painting, he would give it away to you. He was like that,” he said. Many of his works are in Padappai, where he was part of the artists association. He had donated some to the Government Museum in Chennai.

Shanthini Kapoor, Special Commissioner and Commissioner of Museums, said he loved and enjoyed his work. “We were planning the exhibition when he was alive. Now, his family has come forward to display his work,” she said. The exhibition was inaugurated by Smita Nagaraj, chairperson and managing director of the Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation on Monday.

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