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PROPERTY FROM THE WEBER FAMILY COLLECTION, SWITZERLAND
16
S H RAZA
(1922 ‒ 2016)
Untitled
Signed and dated 'RAZA 1982' (on the reverse)
1982
Acrylic on canvas
25.5 x 19.75 in (65 x 50 cm)
Rs 60,00,000 ‒ 80,00,000
$ 89,555 ‒ 119,405
The colours and composition of the present lot demonstrate
elements of gestural brushwork, but distinct elements of structure
and geometry are also visible. The loose brushwork is circumscribed
within a frame composed of solid, horizontal lines of colour. Raza
employs dark, multi‒hued earthy colours and divides space in a way
that is reminiscent of a traditional miniature painting format.
Art critic Rudy von Leyden, wrote of Raza’s “... perceptiveness for a
final supreme and universal viewing of nature, not as appearance,
not as spectacle but as an integrated force of life and cosmic growth
reflected in every elementary particle and in every fibre of a human
being... Nature became to Raza something not to be observed or
to be imagined but something to be experienced in the very act of
putting paint on canvas. Painting acts itself out as a natural force,
struggling in darkness, breaking into light, shivering in cold, burning
in heat, trying to find form and yet dissolving into chaos... the work
of art emerges as an entity of vibrating power, metamorphosis
incarnate, unchangeable and ever changing like the forces of nature
reflected in the humanmind.” (Rudolf von Leyden, “Metamorphosis,”
Raza
, Mumbai: Chemould Publications and Arts, 1985)
Gallerist Kekoo Gandhy took the initiative to introduce Indian artists
to European collectors in the late 1970s. In 1982, Gandhy’s eldest
daughter organised a show of Raza’s paintings at the Gallery Loeb
in Bern, which was attended by several expats, including Mr. Weber,
who had been posted in India between 1930 and 1946. Rudy von
Leyden, who had first spotted Raza as a young artist at the Bombay
Art Society in the 1950s, too attended and gave a touching speech.
The present lot was acquired by Mr. Weber at this exhibition, which
showcased some of Raza’s finest work evoking the colours and
emotions of the forests of India.
Another painting by Raza from the 1982
exhibition in Bern which evokes the lush beauty
of nature.
S H Raza,
La Terre / The Earth (Green)
, 1981
Sold at INR 1.68 crores (USD 254,545)
Saffronart, New Delhi, 9 September 2016, lot 35
Untitled (La Terre)
, 1987
Acrylic on canvas, 31 x 31 in
Sold at INR 1 crore (USD 180,012)
Saffronart, 19‒20 June 2013, lot 31
PROVENANCE:
Acquired from Galerie Loeb, Bern in 1982
Emil Weber collection, Basel
Thence by descent
Heinz Weber, Basel and Rosemarie Herbrand‒Weber,
Munich
EXHIBITED:
Solo Exhibition
, Bern: Galerie Loeb, 1982