Akara Art

SAYED HAIDER RAZA

Akara Modern

1922 -2016

Born in 1922, S. H. Raza was a vanguard who, along with other progressive artists, steered the Indian art scene away from the satirical nature of the Company School and the fervid patriotism of the Bengal School. Raza’s artistic journey took him from painting realistic landscapes to picturing forms of abstraction that were inspired by the works of the American artist Rothko. Ultimately, the themes and forms in his paintings evolved from his childhood memories and impressions that led him to make the ‘Bindu,’ the crowning glory of his career and life. Those visions and forms he carried in his memory were animated on the canvas through the use of geometrical lines, intense patches, and bursts of colour. The ‘Bindu’ became a starting point that later transmitted into a series of paintings that symbolised divine and artistic creativity.

Raza was one of the founders of the Progressive Artists' Group, along with K. H. Ara and F. N. Souza. After receiving a French Government Scholarship in 1950, he left for Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Raza put his name on the map when he became the first non-French artist to win the prestigious Prix de la Critique award in 1956. In 1962, he served as a visiting lecturer at the University of California in Berkeley, USA. He participated in numerous exhibitions, including the Sao Paulo Biennale in 1958; the Biennale de Menton in France; Contemporary Indian Painting at the Royal Academy, London, in 1982. He had held several solo shows at the national and international galleries which includes at the Jahangir Art Gallery, Mumbai (2012-13); Grosvenor Gallery London (2012); Saffronart, London (2005) and Berkeley Square Gallery, New York (2005).