Syed Haider Raza (b. 1922)

Syed Haider Raza, an original member of the revolutionary Progressive Artist Group, experimented with currents of Western Modernism, moving away from Expressionist modes towards greater abstraction and eventually returning to his Indian roots through the use of geometric space and multivalent symbols from ancient religious texts and epics.

La Terre, or the earth, is an apt description for Raza's boldly expressive and saturated use of golds, reds and blacks in this 1980 work. The painting relies primarily on color to convey its warmth and lyrical message, relegating representation to simply flickers of shape. The composition, executed in loose brushstrokes, is at once a departure from his previous style, and a precursor to his heavily structured geometric canvases. At the root of Raza's paintings lies a strong tie to nature and to the forests of Madhya Pradesh where he was born. Though his works from the 1980s and 90s are far from representational, the concept of nature remains pervasive and integral to their composition. Adopting a codified and symbolic language, Raza uses specific shapes and colors to represent different aspects of the natural world making the works intrinsically representative. According to art historian, Geethi Sen, "Geometrical forms are used to map the universe. Here, the vocabulary of pure plastic form acquires an integral purpose: to relate the shape and rhythm of these forms to Nature." (G. Sen, Bindu: Space and Time in Raza's Vision, New Delhi, 1998, p. 118.)