Lot Essay
La Terre, or the earth, is an apt description for Raza's boldly expressive and saturated use of golds, reds and blacks in this 1981 work. The painting relies primarily on colour to convey its warmth and lyrical message, relegating representation to simple flickers of shape. The composition, executed in loose brushstrokes, is at once a departure from his previous style, and a precursor to his heavily structured geometric canvases. At the root of Raza's paintings lies a strong tie to nature and to the forests of Madhya Pradesh where he was born. Though his works from the 1980s and 90s are far from representational, the concept of nature remains pervasive and integral to their composition. Adopting a codified and symbolic language, Raza uses specific shapes and colours to represent different aspects of the natural world making the works intrinsically representative. According to art historian Geethi Sen, "Geometrical forms are used to map the universe. Here, the vocabulary of pure plastic form acquires an integral purpose: to relate the shape and rhythm of these forms to Nature." (G. Sen, Bindu: Space and Time in Raza's Vision, New Delhi, 1998, p. 118)