S. H. Raza

Syed Haider Raza Alias (born February 22, 1922 – 23 July 2016) is an Indian artist specialized in Indian vision and Indian ethnograph. He had lived and worked in France since 1950 and returned to India recently. The themes of his paintings are strongly abstracts in oil or acrylic, with extensive use of color, with depictions of icons from Indian cosmology and philosophy. He is the recipient of Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award of India and the Lalit Kala Akademi Award. He has also founded 'Raza Foundation' in India for promotion of art among Indian youth.

Culture:S.H. Raza Comes in Full Circle

 * Well I spend my days reading, painting, thinking and meeting friends. It’s very pleasant. I’m studying Hindu thought, I’m studying Hindi poetry, my language is Hindi. I get up at 8 am&hellip; there’s no fixed routine&hellip; after 10 or 11 o’ clock my friends come and see me. A message has to be conveyed. It’s not only a question of doing research, what has to be done has to be conveyed to people so it’s interesting to see people who are interested in coming and finding out what I’ve been doing all these years.
 * Everyone sees for himself, the artist also sees for himself. Others see where ideas coincide, or whether they agree or disagree. There is no binding, no forcing of things. It has to be a free association of ideas.
 * Sometimes I start with very little and it grows. Sometimes it grows up to a thing, and doesn’t continue further or it does continue further, which I call vistaar, or expansion, or developing the same idea into space or intensity. There’s no hard or fast rule you see. It happens.
 * To draw and paint is an elementary thing, it has to be done. But it can be a mental process, intellectual process, thought process. *It is a question of temperament of each artist, there are abstract painters, figurative painters, painters who work in silence or who don’t want to work at all, but they continue with ideas in their mind and in their soul. It’s very fascinating; it’s a vast area without rules or regulations.
 * Well, art is reality, art is a muse if it helps us to realise the truth. It is the major guiding element which helps you to realise the truth.

Indian contemporary artists have not reached my standard: SH Raza

 * Now, Indian contemporary art has come to a standard which is very serious and meaningful and it feels good that some of our artists are conducting their exhibitions in international cities. I was happy that this happened in London.
 * Indian contemporary artists have not come to this standard. So I feel happy that I could present something to them. My work has a different meaning and something like this has never been done by any other Indian artist.
 * One doesn't look at the quality of work, they see how much it fetches, how it earns. That's a sad thing. Money is not the criteria of art. Art or love is not a question of money. One should perceive these things at a different level.
 * It is normal that I have done something significant and so have other artists. I have taken my work in such a way that it has been a success. But that is not the only thing which matters you see...it's the work which matters.
 * For me, Bindu is a point where I concentrate, my energy, my mind. It has become like Bhagvat Gita, Swadharm and all that. You have to fix your energy on one thing and not ten things. If you go to ten directions, it's distraction of energy. I think one woman is enough
 * If you say Ram Ram Ram and Allah Allah Allah, you will get confused. So one god is enough. For me Bindu has never done the same thing. There is logic in every abstract form that I make. My work is like poetry and it should create a different atmosphere for the visitor. Poetry, literature and art seem simple but it is very difficult to understand it.
 * I tell God that he has been responsible enough. Without him it wouldn't have been possible. Thanks to him I could achieve these heights.
 * Installations are usually very mediocre. These new ideas are alright to promote themselves but I think real promotion can be done if they make good paintings or good sculptures.
 * His views on the 3D art, installations and the new forms of art.

This is a sum of all my experiences: SH Raza

 * This exhibition is a sum total of all my experiences and all my research.
 * On the exhibition of his 39 new paintings in Mumbai.
 * I didn't become a French painter or a European one. I remained an Indian painter through the years. That was always in my heart and I am very glad that I was able to come back here again."
 * As an Indian, I remained convinced that the bhav or the feeling of a painting is important, and these put together, can make a good artistic expression. This is what I tried to do during my years in France.
 * India is always in my heart and I put that in my paintings and sometimes in my dairies and letters.
 * Young painters are amazingly involved in their own research and are coming into their own personal perceptions. There is great hope for the future of art here. We will be the most vital art expression in the world.
 * I am very happy. My only ambition is that the quality of my work should go ahead.
 * On his artistic work till date.

About S.H. Raza

 * Razaji said that the title of the show is Vistaar and by that he means expansion. But Vistaar to me, when I look at his body of work, means expansion inside. As much as he has gone outside and spread his vibration, that much he has equally and as importantly, gone inside his soul, so that there is no difference between Raza the artist and Raza the person. And that is what makes this show really special.
 * Quoted by art connoisseur Sangeeta Chopra in "This is a sum of all my experiences: SH Raza}.
 * His works essentially, are "a fundamental research in pictorial format", linked with Indian thought and aesthetics, and influenced by European trends; but, at the same time "retaining the primary traits of Indian traditions.
 * Quoted in "This is a sum of all my experiences: SH Raza}.
 * This sale represents records of every kind. The monumental work "Saurashtra" by Syed Haider Raza set a World Auction Record not only for the artist but for any modern Indian art in history.
 * On his work 'Saurashtra' which was sold for a record Rs 16.42 crore ($3,486,965), the highest till then for an Indian artist, at the famous Christie's in London quoted in
 * We are thrilled that this work will return to India as a fitting tribute to the artist and a celebration of art from this region.
 * By Hugo Weihe, Christie's International Director of Asian Art and Yamini Mehta quoted in "Raza's painting sold at record price".