Page 21 - S.H. Raza || SOJOURN || The Arts Trust

The artist in the mid-2000s with Jagrat
(58.5 x 58.5 in, acrylic on canvas), one
of his most famous Bindu series works

revolutionised form, perspective, and colour. Cézanne’s only foreign artist in France to receive the award. His
structural approach to landscape painting left a particularly work began travelling widely: showcases at the Venice
profound impact on him. This Paris period saw Raza Biennale, exhibitions in Tokyo and London, and later at the
refine his technique and transition from expressionism Biennales of Brussels and São Paulo. His paintings were
toward post-Impressionist and eventually abstract forms. also exhibited in Paris and New York, where one of his
His landscapes, though still identifiable, became more works was bought by the Rockefeller family. Around this
structured, more concerned with geometry and the time, he rented a studio near the Panthéon and travelled
emotional force of colour than with literal depiction. across France. In 1959, after divorcing his first wife, Fatima,
Memory and emotion began to outweigh the place Raza married fellow artist Janine Mongillat. The pair met
itself by the mid-1950s in his works. This transformation is and bonded at École Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He made
evident in Le Village (1957). Using gouache and ink on his first trip back to India with her, followed by many more
paper, Raza showcases the scene with rough, expressive visits over the years.
brushstrokes and layered textures rather than clear outlines. The 1960s saw Raza taking a decisive break from
The village emerges from the surface of the paper, blending recognisable landscapes. He began to turn inward, using
into the surrounding colours instead of standing apart abstraction as a means of emotional exploration. This
from them. The painting is dominated by intense yellows, shift is powerfully embodied in an untitled oil on canvas
oranges, reds, and blues, creating a strong sense of heat, painting from 1962. Painted during a crucial phase in
movement, and life. Instead of neat forms, everything feels Raza’s career, this piece reflects his growing focus on
raw and constantly shifting, as if the village is pulsing with colour as an expressive force and on abstraction as a
energy. There are no people shown, yet the painting feels way to explore his inner experience. The absence of a title
crowded and active, suggesting daily life through colour allows viewers to respond freely, engage with the painting
and motion alone. The painting captures the spirit of the on a personal and emotional level rather than searching
village rather than its exact appearance, turning landscape for a fixed meaning. The painting is built from dense,
into a feeling. layered brushstrokes and the surface feels raw, textured,
Raza’s career really started taking off in France in and energetic. There is no clear landscape or structure;
the late-1950s. He was commissioned by Petit-Duteil from instead, the work feels driven by movement, rhythm,and
Club des Beaux Livres de France to design book covers mood. Dark blues and blacks dominate the background,
for famous writers like Émile Zola, Edgar Allan Poe, and giving the canvas a heavy, almost mysterious atmosphere.
Prosper Mérimée, while living in a rented room on Rue Against this darkness, bursts of bright red, yellow, green,
Chaptal. In 1955, he had his first exhibition at Galerie and turquoise cut through the space, creating strong
Lara Vincy in Paris and decided to work exclusively with contrasts and a sense of tension. The forms are fragmented
the gallery for the next six years. The next year, in 1956, and unstable, as if constantly shifting and reforming.
A pensive Raza at one of his showcases he won the prestigious Prix de la Critique, becoming the Although the work is abstract, it still carries emotional

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