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Lot 50

Following Raza`s exposure to the abstract expressionism of Sam Francis, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning on a teaching trip to Berkeley in 1962, the direction of his work changed dramatically. Using loose, gestural brushwork, an expressive palette, and acrylic as a medium, Raza sought to communicate moods rather than images through his canvases. As the artist explained, “Thereafter visual reality, the aim to construct a... Following Raza`s exposure to the abstract expressionism of Sam Francis, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning on a teaching trip to Berkeley in 1962, the direction of his work changed dramatically. Using loose, gestural brushwork, an expressive palette, and acrylic as a medium, Raza sought to communicate moods rather than images through his canvases. As the artist explained, “Thereafter visual reality, the aim to construct a `tangible` world receded. In its place there was a preoccupation with evoking the essence, the mood of places and of people” (quoted in Geeti Sen, “The Seed and the Fruit: Metaphors in Raza`s Painting”, S. H. Raza, Saffronart Exhibition Catalogue, 2005, p. 6). In his paintings from the late 1960s, `tangible` nature thus gives way to a transfigured nature, where Raza, a master colourist, uses light, shadow, and blazing color to portray the landscapes of Central India that he grew up with.

In addition to the environs of Central India, the region`s art, poetry and philosophy also influenced Raza`s work from this period. Rajput and Jain miniatures have “contributed explicitly to the fabric of his pictures, in their color orchestration. This is an art born of love and war, of passion and poetry, which shocks and startles the viewer in its intensity. The bold use of blood-red and pitch-black combine with brilliant chrome yellow and white interspaces, as best exemplified in the paintings from Malwa and Mewar from the seventeenth century…A final touch is his definitive use of strong black borders to the image – as though we are removed in time and gazing upon an icon” (Geeti Sen, “Genesis” in Raza Anthology 1980-90, 1991, Gallery Chemould, unpaginated).

A fragment of a poem is inscribed at the bottom of this canvas in Devnagari script to heighten the painting`s impact by explicitly relating the scorching colours of the image to feelings of passion and violence. Here, under the black sun, a precursor to Raza`s bindu, both nature and the human heart are white hot embers, consumed by their own volatile emotions. In using poetry, Raza plays on all the senses, creating a `climate of experience` for his viewers rather than offering them a simple image. At the same time, the deep red frame encasing the painting emphasizes that, ultimately, it is only representation.

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