Important Notice

At almost five feet square, the present lot, Surya-Namaskar, is, by far, one of the largest of the variations that Raza painted in salutation to the sun. The forty-six tiles, laid in a geometric grid, represent the different phases of the sun. The singular black circle in the centre evokes the absolute, life-giving oneness of the sun.

Through each unique "Surya Namaskar," the artist explores the underlying philosophical... At almost five feet square, the present lot, Surya-Namaskar, is, by far, one of the largest of the variations that Raza painted in salutation to the sun. The forty-six tiles, laid in a geometric grid, represent the different phases of the sun. The singular black circle in the centre evokes the absolute, life-giving oneness of the sun.

Through each unique "Surya Namaskar," the artist explores the underlying philosophical concept further. Art historian Ashok Vajpeyi equates them to the "raga" in Indian classical music, which is performed over and over, each time with new "elements of mood, sensitivity, imagination incorporated and accentuated in entirely different and sometimes unexpected ways". To him, "Raza is a similar musician of abstraction." (Ashok Vajpeyi, A Life in Art: Raza, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi, 2007, p. 115)

In the 1970s, Raza, by then a flourishing artist in the Ecole de Paris, found himself drawn back to his Indian roots. "He was moving towards the essentials: shorn of all redundant matter, pure and transparent. ... Raza had been realising during his various visits to India that colours have both emotive content and spiritual resonances." (Vajpeyi, p. 111)

It was during this time, that the colour black began to feature increasingly in Raza's work. Black, from which all colours are born, was the dark epicentre which gave rise to Raza's brilliant and vivid colour palette. "It was also the void from which sprang the manifest universe." (Yashodhara Dalmia, A Life in Art: Raza, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi, 2007, p. 197)

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