Osian's Auction Catalogue Indian Antiquities Modern Contemporary Fine Arts and Books | April 2017

Property previously sold by Galerie Lara Vincy 60 S.H. Raza 1922-2016 La Berge Oil on canvas, 1969 S/d in English ‘RAZA ‘69’ l.c. Inscribed in English ‘RAZA “La berge” P.809. ‘69 6F’ on verso. Gallery label on verso. 15.7 x 12.6 in (40.0 x 32.0 cm) Provenance Acquired by Delhi-based Collector; previously with a private French collection and Galerie Lara Vincy, Paris INR 1,500,000 – 2,250,000 USD 22,390 – 33,580 “Inevitably, freedom is accompanied by remembrance, and for Raza this brought home the hot, burning colours of miniatures from Mewar and Malwa, the searing sensations of his own land. Even as the acrylic medium lends the painting a fluid vibrancy, Raza’s tempestuous gestures, the tongues of flame in paintings like Rajasthan, will be immortalized…There is no recognizable shape, only the fluency of paint and its vibrant movement on the surface. The three primary colours-red, yellow, and blue emerge along with white and black to be assembled and re-assembled, simulating the passion and violence of the land. ”– Yashodhara Dalmia, rpt. in The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives , 2001; p155. “For Raza, the colour has immense potential just as the dark side of the day leads to the gestation of forms… It must be said of this period [1970s], with its gestural abstractions, the dark paintings with their resonances of night and its flickering lights are compelling compositions. They evoke powerful emotions even as their colour juxtapositions create a throbbing movement on the surface.” – Yashodhara Dalmia, rpt. in The Making of Modern Indian Art: the progressives , OUP, 2001, p156. “It seems to me that Raza is now liberated from the use of violent and brutal matter as he has been freed of his obsessions. His painting has become fluid, light, calm. His fragmented stroke is extending itself gradually across the surface, and is now being organized along unexpected planes. In the rather dull range of ochres and greys there appear tender touches of green and orange. The accords are becoming more precious, the impalpable blends are giving way to colliding affirmations. And the work is finding, occasionally at the heart of strange concretions, a centre of subtle gravity. For there is no doubt that there is a solidity, a certainty in these forms, a quasi-mineral aspect, a presence which faces up victoriously to the wealth of imagination.” – Jacques Lassaigne [Director, Museum of Moderrn Art, Paris], rpt. in Raza EXC. Gallery Chemould 1976. Newspaper clipping featuring Madame Lara Vincy and her daughter, Liliane with gallery artists including Sayed Haider Raza (at far right) From left to right: Sayed Haider Raza, Liliane Vincy and a collector circa 1959 Image Courtesy Sotheby’s online Auction Catalogue 15 March 2016 and Archives of Galerie Lara Vincy, Paris Galerie Lara Vincy in its original location since 1955 - 47 Rue de Seine. 130 | Osian’s–Connoisseurs of Art