Raza centenary: The artist who brought literature, music and painting together
The Hindu
As poet Ashok Vajpeyi says, ‘Raza was always in love, with the world, with colours, with art, with poetry, with friends’
“I greeted the sun and asked it to smile at you.” This is not a line from Pablo Neruda’s love poems but from a love letter written by Sayed Haider Raza to a fellow French artist, Janine Mongillat, who he fell in love with in 1952, and married in 1959. The iconic painter’s love letters, written in French, have been brought out in English translation by The Raza Foundation in collaboration with Vadehra Art Gallery. Raza was born on February 22, 1922, in Babaria, Madhya Pradesh, and his centenary year is being celebrated in India by his friends and admirers. Two valuable books on his life and work have been released this year so far. Well-known artist Akhilesh, who knew Raza very closely, has written a book in Hindi titled Raza: Jaisa Maine Dekha (Raza: As I Saw Him) and published by Rajkamal Prakashan. HarperCollins India have brought out the first-ever biography of Raza, penned by renowned art critic Yashodhara Dalmia, titled Sayed Haider Raza: The Journey of an Iconic Artist. Last year, a revised version of eminent art scholar Geeti Sen’s 1997 book Bindu: Space and Time in Raza’s Vision was brought out by the Raza Foundation in collaboration with Mapin Publishing.More Related News