Untitled

This painting is a typical example of Syed Haider Raza's series of paintings capturing the countryside of rural France, which inspired the artist on his travels in the 1950s. Depicting the quaint village architecture of this region, it demonstrates Raza's perceptive rationalization of Post-Impressionism including works from Cezanne and Manet, amongst others. With a bold use of gestural brushstrokes and heavy impasto, much looser in form than his earlier works, the scene still remains recognizable; the rooftops of the houses, including a church steeple, appear as vibrant shimmering shapes against the dark and rich midnight sky.
"The image of Raza's paintings of his recent period is difficult to define. His paintings still show houses, spires, trees and other elements of landscape emerging out of colour which is their true element. The 'subject' is irrelevant but the 'image' persists. Perhaps it was Jacques Lassaigne who found the best description of this image as a world amid the contending powers of darkness and light.
These last few years in Paris brought real recognition. He won the Prix de la Critique in 1956 as the first non-French painter ever. He found in the Galerie Lara Vincy in the Rue de Seine not only friends and champions of his cause but also the organizational basis for his career which is important in the Western world where art is not only a vocation but also a most competitive business."
(R. von Leyden, Raza, Bombay, 1959, p. 19)