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The time Raza spent as an apprentice at the École de Paris deeply enriched the artistic vocabulary that he began to develop in India in the late 1940s. Using what he learnt about style and technique as a means rather than an end, the young artist communicated a unique vision of the terrain he painted in the 1950s. His command over colour and medium had become masterful, and as formal structure receded, these elements took a leading role in... The time Raza spent as an apprentice at the École de Paris deeply enriched the artistic vocabulary that he began to develop in India in the late 1940s. Using what he learnt about style and technique as a means rather than an end, the young artist communicated a unique vision of the terrain he painted in the 1950s. His command over colour and medium had become masterful, and as formal structure receded, these elements took a leading role in Raza's landscapes of the period.

"The image of Raza's paintings of his recent period is difficult to define. His paintings still show houses, spires, trees and other elements of landscape emerging out of colour, which is their true element. The 'subject' is irrelevant but the 'image' persists" (Rudolf Von Leyden, Raza, Sadanga Publications, Mumbai, 1959, p. 19).

Speaking about the same period of the artist's work, his biographer Geeti Sen notes, "Be it village, town or church, the world according to Raza was aflame. It was being forged anew through the crucible of recollection - baptized through fire" (Bindu: Space and Time in Raza's Vision, Media Transasia Ltd., New Delhi, 1997, p. 66).

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