Sayed Haider Raza (Indian, 1922-2016) UntitledSayed Haider Raza (Indian, 1922-2016)Untitled signed and dated 'Raza 72' lower right, further signed, dated and inscribed 'Raza/1972/15F' and 'SHR-16' versoacrylic on canvas65 x 54cm (25 9/16 x 21 1/4in).CELEBRATING SAYED HAIDER RAZA'S BIRTH CENTENARY AND 75 YEARS OF THE PROGRESSIVE ARTISTSProvenancePrivate Collection, France;Artcurial, Contemporary Art, 29th June 2009, lot 215, Paris;Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi;Acquired from the above by the current owner.LiteratureKishore Singh, Syed Haider Raza:The bindu as leitmotif for art and life, DAG series, New Deli, Delhi Art Gallery, 2011, p. 41 (illustrated).Anne Macklin (ed.), S H Raza, Catalogue Raisonné, Volume II (1972-1989), Vadehra Art Gallery & The Raza Foundation, New Delhi, 2022, p. TBC.ExhibitionContinuum: Progressive Artists Group, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi, 19th January 2011-8th March 2011. Formlessness in its metaphysical aspect also ascribes abstract value to the great life force. Born a Muslim, and married to a Christian, Raza would be familiar with the value ascribed to the unknown: thereby eliciting an epiphany and wonderment in the act of painting. The small work 'Untitled' which comes in the beginning of the decade of the 70s, close in time to works like La Source (1972) and Tarangh (1975) still bears signs of the struggle with darkness—a metaphor for fear as much as for incomprehension, even desire. With this small painting, the artist allows himself some relief. The mood is chilled, even wintry, the rising plant like forms that seem to burst through black hardened surface are seemingly frosted over. And yet they survive, faintly illuminated by the promise of a dawn, breaking just over the horizon. Even in the winter chill, there is the promise of vitality and new life. Perhaps the artist was poised for the rise of the blazing Bindu, like the subcontinental sun, that would continually unfold its significance to him, over the next few decades. - Gayatri Sinha, September 2022.