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Lot 45

 

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"We must slow down our intellectual functions in order to allow the inner light to open out. One then reaches a kind of semiconscious state where reasoning becomes useless, shapes becoming as if they were dictated by heaven. I am convinced that the best paintings are produced while in that kind of state." - S H RAZA

The bindu - which Raza first introduced into his paintings in the 1950s as a black sun looming in the... "We must slow down our intellectual functions in order to allow the inner light to open out. One then reaches a kind of semiconscious state where reasoning becomes useless, shapes becoming as if they were dictated by heaven. I am convinced that the best paintings are produced while in that kind of state." - S H RAZA

The bindu - which Raza first introduced into his paintings in the 1950s as a black sun looming in the background of a landscape - is a metaphor for the origin of all life in Indian philosophy, from which "a whole series of different climates of thought can be created," in addition to representing concepts like unity, completeness and infinity. (Geeti Sen, Bindu: Space and Time in Raza's Vision, New Delhi: Media Transasia Ltd, p. 12) The present lot belongs to a decade in which the artist continued to explore geometric forms and the motif of the bindu in his paintings. Through the repetition of shapes, forms and colours, Raza believed that "you gain energy and intensity, as is gained through the japmala, or the repetition of a word or a syllable until you achieve a state of elevated consciousness." (Artist quoted in Sen, p. 128)

Although Raza's studies of ancient concepts are clearly evident in his works of this period, he sought to be inspired rather than led by them, developing an interpretation that was uniquely his own. "I have done my utmost to invent my own perception of shapes and colours, as well as the geometry governing them. I have been through a long period of research and assimilation before finding my own vision... Painting does not come from the intellect, it comes from the deepest layers of life and from an elevation in intuitive perception." (Artist quoted in S H Raza and Olivier Germain Thomas, Mandalas: Sayed Haider Raza, Paris: ditions Albin Michel, 2004, p. 20)

In the present lot, the artist replaces vivid primary colours with softer, almost monochromatic pastel hues. "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." (Ashok Vajpeyi, A Life in Art: Raza, New Delhi: Art Alive Gallery, 2007, p. 111) Framed within a square, Raza's masterful understanding of forms and colours results in a painting that alludes to notions of serenity, positivity and light.

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