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S. H. Raza

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Not to be confused with

Sayed Haider Raza

Born

22 February 1922

Kakkaiya,

(now in

, India)

Died

23 July 2016

(aged 94)

, India

Education

• Chitrakala Mahavidyalaya,

•

Movement

Awards

(2013)

(2007)

(1984)

(1981)

(2015)

Website

Sayed Haider Raza

(22 February 1922 – 23 July 2016) was an Indian

painter who lived and worked in

for most of his career.

moved to France in 1950, marrying the French artist Janine Mongillat

in 1959. Following her death from cancer in 2002, Raza returned to

India in 2010, where he would live until his death.

Having maintained strong ties with India throughout his career, Raza

was an acclaimed for his art both there and in France.

He was

awarded the

in 1981,

in 1984,

in 2007,

and

2013.

He was conferred with the

Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur

(

) on 14 July 2015.

His seminal work

Saurashtra

sold for

₹

16.42 crore ($3,486,965) at a

auction in 2010.

Early life and education

[

]

Sayed Haider Raza was born in Kakkaiya,

, to Sayed Mohammed Razi, the

of the

district and Tahira Begum.

It was here where he spent his early

years, completed primary education, and took to drawing at the age of

12. He moved to

(also in Madhya Pradesh) at 13;

where he

completed his high school education from Government High School,

Damoh.

After high school, he studied further at the Nagpur School of Art,

(1939–43), followed by

(1943–47),

before moving to France in October 1950

to study at the École Nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSB-A),

(1950-1953) on a Government of France

scholarship.

After his studies, he traveled across Europe, and continued to live and exhibit his work in Paris.

He was later awarded the

in Paris in 1956, becoming the first non-French artist to receive the

honor.

Art career

[

]

Early career

[

]

The Bombay Progressive Artists

group

Sayed Haider Raza, had his first solo show when he was 24 in 1946 at

Salon, and was awarded the Silver Medal of the society.

His work evolved from painting expressionistic landscapes to abstract ones. From

his fluent watercolours of landscapes and townscapes executed in the early 1940s,

he moved toward a more expressive language, painting landscapes of the mind.

Raza carefully crafted his career to become an inspiration to two generations of

artists. The year of 1947 proved to be a very important year for him. First, his

mother died. Then, he co-founded the revolutionary

(PAG) (1947–1956) along with

and

This group set out to

break free from the influences of European realism in Indian art and bring Indian

inner vision (Antar gyan) into the art.

The group had its first show in 1948.

A revolutionary amount of art was created by the people in this group from 1940 to

1990. Raza's father died the same year his mother had died in Mandla. The majority of his four brothers and sister,

migrated to

, after the

. In the early years, the group continued its close rapport.

speaks of the first exhibition Raza,

and

mounted together at the Gallery Cruz in

Paris. "Souza and Padamsee painted in a quasi-modern fashion. Raza, however, made a throwback to the

creating jewel-like watercolours, with the pigment rubbed in with a shell. He was vastly successful and acquired by

important collectors."

Once in France, he continued to experiment with currents of Western Modernism, moving from Expressionist modes towards

greater abstraction and eventually incorporating elements of

from Indian scriptures.

Whereas his

fellow contemporaries dealt with more figural subjects, Raza chose to focus on landscapes in the 1940s and 50s,

inspired in part by a move to France. In 1956, he was awarded the prestigious

, this was a

monumental award to the art scene in India.

In 1962, he became a visiting lecturer at the University of California in Berkeley,

Raza was initially

enamored of the bucolic countryside of rural France.

Eglise

is part of a series which captures the rolling terrain and

quaint village architecture of this region. Showing a tumultuous church engulfed by an inky blue night sky, Raza uses

gestural brushstrokes and a heavily impasto-ed application of paint, stylistic devices which hint at his later 1970s

abstractions.

[

]

The "Bindu" and beyond

[

]

Black Sun

based on Bindu by S.

H. Raza

By the 1970s Raza had grown increasingly unhappy and restless with his own work and

wanted to find a new direction and deeper authenticity in his work, and move away

from what he called the 'plastic art'. His trips to India, especially to caves of

, followed by those to Varanasi, Gujarat and Rajasthan, made him

realize his role and study Indian culture more closely, the result was "Bindu",

which signified his rebirth as a painter.

The Bindu

came forth in 1980, and took his work deeper and

brought in, his new-found Indian vision and Indian ethnography. One of the reasons he attributes to the origin of the

"Bindu", have been his elementary school teacher, who on finding him lacking adequate concentration, drew a dot on the

blackboard and asked him to concentrate on it.

The "Bindu" is related to Indian philosophy of being the point of

all creation. The reason this interested Raza so much is because he was looking for new inspiration for his art and

this created a new point of creation for himself.

After the introduction of "BUNDU" (a point or the source of energy), he added newer dimensions to his thematic oeuvre

in the following decades, with the inclusion of themes around the

Tribhuj

(Triangle),

which bolstered Indian

concepts of space and time, as well as that of "

" (the cosmic substance and the energy or the spirit

respectively), his transformation from an expressionist to a master of abstraction and profundity, was complete.

His multiple works of art with the bindu is what truly tied him to his Indian roots and culture. This art created a

sense of pride for his culture. The bindu is now widely regarded as a trademark for Raza and he said in 2010 that "It's

the centre of my life".

"My work is my own inner experience

and involvement with the mysteries of

nature and form which is expressed in

colour, line, space and light".

- S. H. Raza

Raza abandoned the expressionistic landscape for a geometric abstraction

and the "Bindu".

Raza perceived the Bindu as the center of creation

and existence progressing towards forms and color as well as energy,

sound, space and time.

His work took another leap in 2000, when he began to express his

increasingly deepened insights and thoughts on Indian spiritual, and

created works around the

and the

Public contributions

[

]

For the promotion of art among Indian youth, he established the

in India which gives the Annual Raza

Foundation Award to young artists in India. The Raza Foundation in France, based in the artist village of Gorbio, runs

the Estate of Sayed Haider Raza.

Later years and death

[

]

In 2011, a few years after the death of his wife, S.H. Raza decided to move back from France to New Delhi, where he

continued to work several hours a day up until his death on 22 July 2016, at the age of 94, in New Delhi. His last wish

being laid to rest in his hometown Mandla beside his father's grave was fulfilled. He was buried in Mandla city's

[

]

Awards

[

]

1946: Silver Medal,

, Mumbai

1948: Gold Medal,

, Mumbai

1956:

, Paris

1981:

; the

1984:

, New Delhi

1992–1993:

, Government of

2004: Lalit Kala Ratna Puraskar,

, New Delhi

2007:

; the Government of India

Raza receiving Padma Vibhushan

from then President

in 2013

2013:

; the Government of India

2013: one of the greatest living global Indian legends ...

2014:

(Honoris Causa), Indira Kala Sangit Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh,

2015:

(the Legion of Honour);

2015: D. Litt (Honoris Causa),

, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh

Solo exhibitions

[

]

2016; Nirantar, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata

2015: Galerie Lara Vincy, Paris, "Raza: Paintings"

2015: Akar Prakar, Kolkata, "Aarambh – Raza at 93"

2015: Art Musings, Mumbai, "Aarambh @ 93: Solo Show of SH Raza"

2014: Grosvenor Vadehra, London, "SH Raza – Pyaas"

2014: Sovereign FZE, Dubai, "Raza: Paysage, Select Works 1950s – 1970s"

2014: Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, "SH Raza - Parikrama – Around Gandhi"

2013: Akar Prakar, Kolkata, "Shabd- bindu – A show of recent works by SH Raza & poetry by

2013: Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, "Antardhwani"

2012: ICIA, The Art Trust, Mumbai, "SH Raza – Solo Show"

2012: Art Musings, Mumbai, "SH Raza: Vistaar"

2012: Grosvenor Gallery, London, "Bindu Vistaar"

2011: Vadehra Art Gallery & Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, "SH Raza, Punaraagman"

2010: Flora Jansem Gallery, Raza Ceramiques, Paris

2010: Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris, "Sayed Haider Raza, Œuvres 1950-2001"

2010: Akar Prakar Art Gallery, Kolkata, Ahmadabad, Jaipur, Delhi, INDIA in 2010

2010: Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, "Recent Works – SH Raza"

2008: Art Alive Art Gallery, Delhi, India in 2008

Exhibition Magnificent Seven at Art Alive Gallery

2007: Ayran Art Gallery, Mumbai, New Delhi, Hong Kong, "SH Raza - Celebrating 85 Years of living Legend"

2007: RL Fine ARTS, New York, "SH Raza: Master of Colors – Selected Works"

2007: The Arts Trust at the ICIA, Mumbai, "SH Raza- Solo Show"

2007: National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, "Swati – S.H. Raza"

2006: TAO Art Gallery, Mumbai, "Rang Ras – S.H. Raza"

2006: RL Fine Arts, New York, SH Raza: Selected Works

2006: Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, "Raza"

2006: Hong Kong, Aryan Art Gallery, "Raza: Metamorphosis"

2005: Aryan Art Gallery, New Delhi, "Raza – Recent Works"

2005: Saffronart & Berkeley Square Gallery, London & New York, "SH Raza: Summer 2005"

2004: Art Musings, Mumbai, "SH Raza"

2003: Berlin, The Fine Art Resource, "SH Raza: Paintings from 1996 to 2003"

2001:

, New Delhi, "Mindscapes: The Sacred Search: a select collection of works from 1951- 2002 by

Raza"

1999: Gallery 54, New York, "Raza"

1997: Roopankar Museum of Fine Arts,

, Bhopal

1997: Jehangir Art Gallery Mumbai

1997: National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

1997: Vadhera Art Gallery & Chemould Gallery, Bhopal, Mumbai & New Delhi, "Raza: Avartan 1991-1996"

1994: The Art Rental Corporate, Group Michael Ferrier, Échirolles, Grenoble

1992:

Museum, National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai

1992: Courses Arts Lalouvesc, France

1991: Gallery Eterso, Cannes, "Bindu ou la quête de l'essentiel", 28 June – 17 August

1991: Palais de Carnolès, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Menton, "Raza: Rétrospective 1952-1991"

1991: Chemould Gallery, Bombay, "Raza Anthology 1980-1990"

1988: Chemould Gallery, Bombay; Koloritten Galleri, Stavanger, Norway

1987: The Head of the artist, Grenoble

1985: Galerie Pierre Parat, Paris

1984: Chemould Gallery, Bombay

1982: Gallery Loeb, Bern, Switzerland; Gallery JY Noblet, Grenoble

1980: Galleriet, Oslo

1976: Mumbai, Gallery Chemould at the Jehangir Art Gallery, Raza, 26 February – 1 March 1976.

1975: Sanremo, Galleria Matuzia, Raza, 4 – 31 October 1975.

1969: Paris, Galerie Lara Vincy, Raza: Peintures Recentes, 27 November 1969 – 5 January 1970.

1968: Bombay, Gallery Chemould, Raza, 15 – 27 April 1968.

1968: Toronto, Gallery Dresdnere, Raza – Recent Oil Paintings, 25 October – 9 November 1968.

1968: Cologne, Dom Galerie, Sayed Haider Raza, 26 March – 4 May 1968.

1967: Paris, Galerie Lara Vincy, 1967.

1966: Düsseldorf, Tecta Galerie, Raza – Paris: 25 Oil Paintings from 1962- 1966, 6 October – 10 November 1966.

1963 Cologne, Dom Galerie, Raza, June – July 1963.

1964: Paris, Galerie Lara Vincy, Raza: Peintures récentes, 18 November 1964 – 10 January 1965.

1962: Galerie Dresdnere, Montreal

1962:

Galerie Lara Vincy, Paris, Raza, 15 July 1962.

1961: Paris, Galerie Lara Vincy, Raza, 19 April- 18 May 1961.

1960: Montreal, Galerie Dresdnere, Autumn 1960.

1959: Montreal, Galerie Dresdnere, Raza: Peintures et Gouaches, 5th – 19th MAY 1959.

1958: Galerie Lara Vincy, Paris, "Raza - Prix de la Critique 1956. Peintures et gouaches" (April–May)

1956: Galerie Saint-Placide, Paris, "Raza"

1950: Charles Petrat's Institute of foreign Languages, Mumbai (September)

1950: The IFL International Centre, Bombay, "SH Raza: Farewell Exhibition of Paintings" (September)

1948: Exhibition Hall, New Delhi, "Raza: 100 paintings of Kashmir", organised by Rudolf Von Leyden, (September)

1947:

, "Raza's Watercolour Landscapes", (November)

1946: First solo exhibition at the Bombay Art Society Salon

Selected Biennales

[

]

1956: Venice Biennale, Italy.

1957: Biennale 57,

, Paris, France.

1958: Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil.

1958: Biennale, Brussels, Belgium.

1958: Biennale of Young Contemporary Painters, Bruges, Belgium.

1958: Venice Biennale, Italy.

1961: Biennale of Tokyo, Japan.

1962: Salon Comparaisons, Paris, France.

1963: Biennale du Maroc, Rabat, Morocco.

1964: Biennale de Menton, France.

1966: Biennale de Menton, France.

1966: Salon Comparaisons, Paris.

1968: Biennale de Menton, France.

1972: Biennale de Menton, France.

1976: Biennale de Menton, France.

1978: Biennale de Menton, France.

1986: Bienal de la Habana, Havana,