Revised Preface

Every work pursues its internal logic of growth. Referring to the metaphor of the “earth–seed” relationship, which plays so vital a role in Raza’s later paintings, this book was in gestation for over 25 years. In 1972, we met Raza and his wife, Janine, in Paris, to be inspired by his impassioned paintings and their relation to poetry and music. Our conversations nurtured a friendship that matured over time, exploring the ideas rooted in the perennial philosophies of the world— some of which are made manifest through his images.

This is why commentaries by the artist form an integral part of this book. Indeed, they become the raison d’être and formulation for the chapters, each addressing itself to different problems in his life and work. Yet, the text is by no means a linear history, except for chapters two and three, which trace the beginnings of his career—first in India and then in France. The remaining four chapters deal essentially with a thought process that evolved to express itself in the language of visual metaphors.

Based on interviews with the artist and with his contemporaries, my writing explores assumptions about the nature of art, its relation to values and its relevance today. Both in the West and the East, art has to play the role assigned to it in ancient civilizations—of restoring to the earth a sense of sanctity, and our place in this universe. It is time that we examine the subtler implications of art as related to our beliefs and values. The subtext for this book is my genuine concern to see art not merely as connoisseurship but as a composing part of a larger canvas that integrates different disciplines. This is why references to the new propositions in scientific theory about Gaia, to an intrinsic relation between

sound and image and between space and time, as explored in the writings of Marcel Proust, Mircea Eliade and Henri Bergson—and much earlier, in the philosophy of the Upanishads—find their place in this book.

Several institutions, artists, critics and friends helped in the research for this book; I am grateful to them for their support and enthusiasm in this endeavour.

The writing of this book was initially supported by a research grant from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi. Shri Ashok Vajpeyi mediated in urgent communications with Raza, about the text and pictures supplied by Shri S.H. Raza. Smt. Anjali Sen provided the catalogue on the Bombay Progressives that had just opened in Bombay.

From France, I received support from the Maison des Sciences de L’Homme to research at the Centre de Pompidou and interview critics in Paris. I am indebted to Professor Aymard, Mme Montefalcon, and especially Professor Jean-Luc Racine for his suggestions. The drafts were discussed with Raza and Janine in the magical environs of their studio and garden in Gorbio. I am privileged to have enjoyed their affection, which inspired me to persist in the realization of a book that spans 50 years of painting.

While in Paris, Jean and Freny Bhownagary revived through anecdotes the early days of their camaraderie with Indian artists in Paris. The critic and poet JeanDominique Rey offered invaluable insights into Raza’s work from the sixties and seventies. But perhaps the greatest surprise was the warm response from

Henri Cartier-Bresson, who telephoned me long-distance to offer his classic photograph of Raza for use in this book. My visit to Magnum Studios and the tenacity of Mme. Marie-Pierre Gissey in locating this portrait from their archives introduces other dimensions of the visual image. My explorations into the artist’s life and work took me to California, where I met Karl Kasten, who had taken the initiative to invite Raza to teach in the art department at Berkeley in 1962. Visiting California opened that expanse of experiments by the pioneers of gestural expressionism, which left their impress upon Raza’s work.

In India, my search took me to several stimulating discussions with the artist Paritosh Sen in Calcutta, Ram Kumar and Gaitonde in Delhi, and F.N. Souza about the Bombay Progressive Artists, where he and Raza had been among the core members. P.N. Mago supplied that first rudimentary catalogue of the Progressives, containing the Manifesto written by Souza quoted here. While searching for pictures by Raza from this crucial phase, we discovered that vibrant painting Bombay (1964), now in the collection of Masanori Fukuoka, reproduced here with his permission.

Many other friends helped us to locate pictures: Krishen Khanna, Himmat Shah, Javed Abdulla from the Archives at Sotheby’s, Ravi Kumar from his publication on Jain Cosmology, Prema Shrimali, Surinder Singh, Usha and Ranjana Mirchandani. The Ektachromes supplied by Raza, of superb quality, were assembled through the personal enthusiasm of Nitin Bhayana, whom I must thank for his commitment to this project. Through these efforts, we aspire to a book of some magnitude and sophistication. The support received from Media Transasia was generous, allowing us to conceive a production of high quality. We

worked with a designer who integrated image and text with great sensitivity. I am deeply indebted to Paulomi Shah for her dedication in fine-tuning the book.

While writing, I turned to several friends who gave generously of their time to read the chapters. Among them were Dileep Padgaonkar, who knew Raza’s work; Amrita Kumar and M.N. Pandey at Media Transasia, who helped to coordinate; and Vijaya Ranganathan, who checked the French spellings. I thank Girish, who typed the initial drafts over weekends. Inspired conversations with Bindu Chawla helped my understanding of the philosophical concepts in Indian thought and poetics, and brought depth to the chapters titled Tam Shunya and Bindu.

Over two years, my notebooks on Raza travelled with me everywhere—to Tunisia to write up my interviews; to Sikkim on the invitation of P.S. Bawa, to meditate and begin that difficult chapter on Tam Shunya; finally, to Benares, where I was introduced by Bettina Baumer to the Vastusutra Upanishad. Illustrated with diagrams, these sutras disclose, in the nature of revelation, the principles that govern the universe. Here at last, with humility, I realized that the dimensions of space and time, which were being explored by Raza, compose part of an Indian sensibility.

Geeti Sen January 2020