Dots and a date with Raza

Untitled, 1947

Had Sayed Haider Raza been alive today, he would have been a 100 years old. And who knows, he might have looked out of his engrossed tranquil gaze and smiled at his birth date being a palindrome this year. As one of the most celebrated modern watercolourists, Raza's transatlantic impressions on art can be traced back to two big metropolitan cities - Mumbai, where he emerged; and Paris, where he evolved. His fascination with the dot or bindu, that - as mentioned in his biography - began as a delayed consequence of his school headmaster making him focus on a dot on the wall to help him overcome his fidgetiness, was not just the influence of abstract expressionism. A quick glance through his great body of work and we see the figurative reach after the abstract, as if for a need to look inward. His lesser-known trials with figurative art capture his sensibilities, informed by Mumbai's political climate in the 1940s. Piramal Museum of Art's Byculla gallery is hosting such artworks that welcome us into Raza's vision of modern art and Indian cities at the time.

Surya-Namaskar, 1993

With its first physical exhibition since March 2020, the museum is keen to familiarise enthusiasts with works by Raza that haven't met the public eye yet. Museum director Ashvin Rajagopalan says, "People should come to the gallery to walk through this display. We usually put up art that's part of our collection, and we have the largest prized collection of Raza's paintings. We are concentrating on 60 years of his long career. He arrived in Mumbai in September 1943, a year after the Quit India Movement. Between 1943 and 1950, he created art that depicts snatches of Pherozeshah Mehta Road, Flora Fountain at the Hutatma Chowk, Marine Drive, Malabar Hill, Matheran, and other locations." Rajagopalan, who has also curated the display, adds that in these paintings, we see a Raza beyond his geometric shapes; we see an artist who was quite invested in the sights and sounds of the island city. The walk-through includes a guided tour by museum docent Anita Yewale, and a talk by the director.

Untitled, 1952, was displayed in Raza's first display in 1953

The curator draws our attention to the painter's role in founding the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group in 1947. "It is telling that Raza was in Mumbai during the freedom struggle. He witnessed Independence. I feel he had a clear vision of India and could represent the nation holistically. We have seen him paint quite a bit of Benaras and Kashmir, too, but more than cities and states, he was travelling through India as one entity," Rajagopalan explains.

SH Raza and Ashvin Rajagopalan. Pics/Piramal Museum of Art

On February 23 to February 25, 6 pm to 7 pm; February 26, 11 am to 12 pm; February 27, 11 am to 12 pm and 4 pm to 5 pm
At Piramal Aranya, ES Patanwala Marg, Byculla East.
Log on to artfoundation@piramal.com