Despite Raza`s significant involvement with the Progressive Artist`s Group, his work often embodies starkly divergent concerns. While many of the Group`s most prominent members - Husain and Souza included - focus mainly on the human form, Raza`s art draws much of its inspiration from landscapes and natural terrain. The title of this work, "Colline" or "Hill" in French, is reflected in the luminous blocks of red, orange and...
Despite Raza`s significant involvement with the Progressive Artist`s Group, his work often embodies starkly divergent concerns. While many of the Group`s most prominent members - Husain and Souza included - focus mainly on the human form, Raza`s art draws much of its inspiration from landscapes and natural terrain. The title of this work, "Colline" or "Hill" in French, is reflected in the luminous blocks of red, orange and green, which stand out from the dark background suggesting the structural outlines of the hills.
However, in contrast to Raza`s landscape paintings of the 1940`s and mid-50s, which are largely representational, this painting is involved in tracing the flickering play of light, color and texture on the pictorial surface. Here, Raza is more interested in evoking the mood of the place than its physical attributes and as such the work embodies the shift in his aesthetic vision towards abstraction. Brilliantly colored paint is thickly applied, creating a rich glow reminiscent of the work of the French Impressionists, whose experiments exercised a formative influence on the development of his style. "What is created in Raza`s fragmentation of forms are analogies… `the real thing`, through the substantial realm of color. There is vigor here, and an irrepressible rhythm; but it is no longer nature as `seen` or as `constructed` but nature as experienced." (p.79, G. Sen, Bindu: Space and Time in Raza`s Vision, Media Transasia Ltd, 1997)