Village

A founding member of the prestigious Progressive Artists’ Group in Bombay, Syed Haider Raza is one of the giants of modern Indian art. Having lived and worked in Paris for over fifty years, he achieved a masterful synthesis between Western abstract techniques and the profound concepts of Indian cosmology.
Raza’s evolution is a journey from the vibrant expressionism of his early years toward a quest for the essential. His thinking is rooted in an inhabited geometry:
A central concept in his later work, the Bindu (the black dot) represents for Raza the center of creation, the starting point of all form and color. It becomes a gateway to meditation, a symbol of concentrated energy and unity.
Although his works are geometric, they vibrate with organic life. Through triangles, circles, and squares, Raza explores the forces of nature (earth, water, fire, sky) and the cycles of time.
Inspired by his life in France, Raza has incorporated the structural rigor of the Paris School (notably the influence of Cézanne) while drawing his chromatic roots from the miniatures of his native India. His palette is an explosion of ochres, reds, and deep blacks.