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S. H. Raza

Personal Profile

S. H. Raza
  • Birth Name:
    Syed Haider Raza
  • Date of Birth:
    February 22, 1922
  • Zodiac Sign:
    Pisces
  • Place of Birth:
    Babaria, Madhya Pradesh, British India
  • Sex:
    Male
  • Nationality:
    Indian
  • Education:
    Government High School, Damoh

    Nagpur School of Art, Nagpur

    École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSB-A) in Paris

Family

S. H. Raza
  • Spouse:
    Janine Mongillat

Career

S. H. Raza

Awards

S. H. Raza
1946: Silver Medal, Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

1948: Gold Medal, Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

1956: Prix de la critique, Paris

1981: Padma Shri; the Government of India

1981: Fellowship of the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1981: Kalidas Samman, Government of Madhya Pradesh

2007: Padma Bhushan; the Government of India

Trivia

S. H. Raza
  • He has also founded 'Raza Foundation' in India, promotion of art among Indian youth, which also gives away, Annual Raza Foundation Award, to young artists.
  • In December 1978, the Madhya Pradesh Government, India, paid him special and grateful homage and now houses a permanent collection in Bhopal.
  • Syed Haider Raza, has his first solo show in 1946 at Bombay Art Society Salon, and was awarded the Silver Medal of the society.
  • He was awarded the Prix de la critique in Paris in 1956, first non-French artist receive the honour.
  • At a Dec 2006 auction, a painting by him reportedly sold for US $1.4 million.
  • He was awarded the Padma Shri and Fellowship of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1981 and Padma Bhushan in 2007.
  • S.H. Raza works are mainly abstracts in oil or acrylic, with a very rich use of color, replete with icons from Indian cosmology as well as its philosophy.
  • He is an eminent Indian artist who has lived and worked in France since 1950, but maintains strong ties with India.

Quotes

S. H. Raza
  • "I went to France because that country taught me the technique and science of painting. The immortal artists of France like Cézanne knew the secret of the construction of a painting…. But despite my French experience, the substance of my paintings comes straight from India."
  • "The quest of the essential obsessed me. The revelation of Indian concepts, iconography, signs and symbols fortified the search. Nature as 'Prakriti', the supreme generating force, the embryonic energy contained in the seed, the male-female polarity, the ever present phenomena in Nature - germination, gestation and birth - transformed my concept of 'nature-seen' to 'nature-imagined".
  • "My work is my own inner experience and involvement with the mysteries of nature and form which is expressed in colour, line, space and light".
  • "My inspiration has been the ideas of writers or painters and even musicians such as the Ustad who said, 'See with your ears, hear with your eyes".
View all Quotes: S. H. Raza

Biography

S. H. Raza
Last Updated: Saturday, June 27, 2009

S.H. Raza was born as Syed Haider Raza on February 22, 1922, in the state of Madhya Pradesh. One of the most distinguished artists of the Indian sub-continent, Raza has been settled in France since 1950. However, his ties with India remain as strong as ever. The paintings of Syed Haider Raza have been done mainly in oil or acrylic and have a very heavy usage of color. His wife is a French artist, Janine Mongillat.

Raza received his formal training in painting at the Nagpur School of Art (Nagpur) and Sir J. J. School of Art (Mumbai). During his stay at the Sir J.J. School, he became a member of Progressive Artist Group. At that time, S.H. Raza experimented with the Western Modernism, which was moving away from expressionism and towards abstraction.

Thereafter, he shifted to France to pursue his studies at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts of Paris. The paintings of Syed Haider Raza in the 1940s and 1950s revolved mainly around landscapes.

The paintings of S.H. Raza revolve mainly around nature and its various faucets. His paintings have evolved from being purely expressionist landscapes to abstract ones. He believes the Bindu (dot) to be the center of creation and existence and his works reflect this particular thinking. Even though the vibrancy of his paintings has become subtle, the dynamism remains as alive as ever.

A painting by S.H. Raza was reportedly sold for US $1.4 million at an auction held in December 2006. In Feb 2007, his works were exhibited in The Arts Trust - Institute of Contemporary Indian Art (Mumbai).

S.H. Raza was awarded the prestigious Padma Shree by the Government of India in the year 1981. He is also a Fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi of New Delhi. The government of Madhya Pradesh has awarded him the Kalidas Samman.

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