
Priya Singh
Head of Department
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Sold for £34,000 inc. premium
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Head of Department
Provenance:
Acquired by the current vendor from Oger Blanchet, Tableaux modernes- Arts décoratifs du XXe siècle 2018, 5-6 June 2018.
Born in 1922, Raza was awarded a scholarship to study at the acclaimed Sir J.J. School of Art in Bombay. Declared too late, he was not granted admission and instead lived in Bombay as a struggling artist. His works gained recognition after two watercolours were shown at the Bombay Art Salons exhibitions and were praised by critic Rudi von Leyden. This lead to interest from E. Schlesinger and Walter Langhammer. In Raza's own words, these meetings 'changed my life' (Bindu Vistaar, Grosvenor Vadehra, p.7)
Initially Raza's works were impressionist in style, an offshoot of the J.J. School of Art aesthetic. After forming the Progressive Artists Group in 1947 with M.F. Husain, F.N. Souza, K.H. Ara and H.A. Gade, Raza and his contemporaries began to explore more nuanced and animated methods of depiction that were not confined by the colonial ideals of high art. In 1950 Raza received a bursary from the French Government to study at the esteemed École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
This lot has been withdrawn. Published: Anne Macklin (ed), S H Raza- Catalogue Raisonne 1958 - 1971 (Volume 1), Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2016, p.179 (illustrated).