The Bindu was his muse, his leitmotif, evolving and gyrating, circling into concentric spheres drawing the universe's energies that were presented in brilliant orchestration of colour and form
The Bindu was his muse, his leitmotif, evolving and gyrating, circling into concentric spheres drawing the universe's energies that were presented in brilliant orchestration of colour and form. At 94, after a prolonged illness, one of India's foremost painters, the artist who made the cosmos of the Bindu his very own, breathed his last, in Delhi.
Saurashtra, made by Raza in 1983, sold for Rs 16.51cr at a Christies auction in 2010, making it the higest-selling work by an Indian artist at that time
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Syed Haider Raza, fondly addressed as Razasaab, was an individualist. At the start of his career, while his contemporaries within the Progressive Group were engaged with the human figure revolutionising a new vision, he simply painted landscapes with the vision and vigor of the Impressionists. He painted the streets and stately monuments capturing the essence of life and the times with colour swatches and washes. Overtly, it seemed his stimuli originated from the brilliance of the Parisian Impressionists Monet, Degas and Pissarro. However, the post-Impressionists, like Cezanne and Van Gogh apparently held the torch light towards a perfect understanding of colour and form, construction and composition. Ironically, on setting foot in Paris he discovered the Bindu, a primordial form released from his roots, from the deep recesses of his childhood memories. Earlier influences became the bedrock to his new expressions that now expressed a refined sophisticated language.
Raza’s palette, which he never washed and layered with colours. Pic/Tao Art Gallery
Throughout his career, Raza’s concern with Nature was to explore the fundamental values of Time and Space. To express these primary notions that form the core of Indian thought, he used the discipline and control of Geometry. Within the Bindu were the archetypal triangle and square, the circle and the pulsating point. He composed a language that investigated the energies that coordinated and controlled the sacred stability of the universe.
A 2001 show at Tao Art Gallery, Worli, titled Ashtanayak brought together key figures from the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group. Seen here, along with SH Raza (centre, in red) are (from left to right) art patron Jehangir Nicholson, Krishen Khanna, MF Husain, Tyeb Mehta, Bal Chabda, (centre, standing) poet Ashok Vajpayee and Tao Art’s gallerist Kalpana Shah. Pic/Tao Art Gallery
Despite his international accomplishments he stayed entrenched to his roots. Regular visits to Barbaria, in Madhya Pradesh, kept him rooted to this place of his birth. He talked to students, about the art world at large, his boundless inspirations quoting from the Bhagvad Gita and other mythologies, answering questions and opining about their work.
The contemporary Indian art world will miss this nonconformist individualist artist who stood solitary, using a language that encompassed the universe. In a true sense, there is or was no artist like him.
Niyatee Shinde is an independent curator, writer and photo-historian based in Mumbai
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