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Lot 14

 

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From his watercolour townscapes of Bombay in the 1940s to the geometric explorations in his later years, Raza's artistic evolution was one of the most fluid and versatile ones in modern Indian art. Each phase in his oeuvre signified not only a technical change in style and medium, but also a significant change in attitude. As Rudolf von Leyden commented in 1959, "his powers are deep and large and capable of many mutations." (Rudolf von Leyden,... From his watercolour townscapes of Bombay in the 1940s to the geometric explorations in his later years, Raza's artistic evolution was one of the most fluid and versatile ones in modern Indian art. Each phase in his oeuvre signified not only a technical change in style and medium, but also a significant change in attitude. As Rudolf von Leyden commented in 1959, "his powers are deep and large and capable of many mutations." (Rudolf von Leyden, Raza, Sandanga Series, Bombay: Vakils, 1959)

The year 1969 was an important year for S H Raza, whose artistic practice was transitioning from the Cubist and impressionistic landscapes of his previous Paris years to the rediscovering of his Indian roots through gestural expression in the decade that followed. The same year, he had a solo show at Galerie Lara Vincy in Paris that ran from 27 November 1969 5 January 1970, where the present lot was perhaps exhibited. Titled L'aube - or dawn - the present lot likely represents the landscape of southern France where Raza had been living at that time. Here, the artist gesturally evokes the rising of the sun through the darkened sky, as day breaks over the verdant surroundings.

Earlier that decade in 1962, Raza was invited to teach at the University of Berkeley in California. During this time, he visited New York, where he encountered the works of American Abstract Expressionists, including Mark Rothko. "Rothko's work opened up lots of interesting associations for me. It was so different from the insipid realism of the European School. It was like a door that opened to another interior vision. Yes, I felt that I was awakening to the music of another forest, one of subliminal energy... Rothko's works made me understand the feel for spatial perception." (Artist quoted in Raza: Celebrating 85 Years, New Delhi: Aryan Art Gallery, 2007)

Rothko's influence on Raza is visible in the present lot, as seen in the thick swirling impasto and pulsating colour and movement. The circular black sun in the painting - a form he had explored before - is also the precursor to the bindu, which would come to dominate his later work. An almost imperceptible orange streak outlines it; the delicacy of line reminiscent of Rothko's works. With its bold and enthusiastic brush work, the present lot is a vibrant example of Raza's unique and continuing exploration of the relationship between colour and form.

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