Syed Haider Raza (b. 1922)

good overall condition, colors of original richer and brighter than catalogue illustration with greater contrast, as viewed
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Raza states, 'Music, poetry, dance, as much as literary thought, have always inspired me in my work.  But as a painter, I have to realise the ideas, the moods, the sentiments, in a visual language of form and color.  A painting has to be seen, and to be felt.  It has to be felt - through all the senses.'  (Geeti Sen, Bindu: Space and Time in Raza's Vision, New Delhi, 1997 p. 148).

The current work painted in 1976 corresponds to a phase of Raza's career that is the culmination of almost a decade of intense experimentation with purer forms of abstraction. During this period Raza produced several important works including Tapovan, Climat  and Rajasthan.  These works signal a change in his sources of inspiration.  Unlike his earlier Cezanne-like oils or the abstract expressionist landscapes of the mid 60's inspired by the French countryside, these large-scale canvases are meditations upon his homeland India. The current work although untitled bears close compositional similarities to Rajasthan (illustrated Geeti Sen, Bindu: Space and Time in Raza's Vision, New Delhi, 1997, p. 93) and the similarities reveal an ongoing dialogue between the artist, the hot desert region and its artistic traditions.

'Inevitably, freedom is accompanied by remembrance and for Raza this brought home the hot burning colours of miniatures from Mewar and Malwa, the searing sensations of his own land...There is no recognizable shape, only the fluency of colors - red, yellow and blue - emerge along with white and black to be assembled and reassembled simulating the passion and violence of the land.' (Yashodhara Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New Delhi, 2001, p. 155).

The bright red border of the current painting, the horizontal bands within the upper register and the division of the canvas into four quadrants is a format that is repeated in several works of this period and hints at the more formal structures of his later works. However, within the later works the influence of the yantra and mandalas of classical Indian art is undeniable, but in this mid period work the structure is more reminiscent of 16th and 17th century Rajput painting, where frequently the image is split into several registers, enclosed by a vibrant red border. Even so, this early appearance of geometric forms provides an insight into the gradual evolution of the conceptual process in Raza's work.