17 Items in this Learning Collection
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object

Copyright
All Rights Reserved ()

Grey Landscape

Accession Number
2015/2.21

Title
Grey Landscape

Artist(s)
Sayed Haider Raza

Artist Nationality
Indian (South Asian)

Object Creation Date
1963

Medium & Support
oil on canvas

Dimensions
23 1/4 in x 19 1/2 in (59.06 cm x 49.53 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of the Estate of Richard H. Shackson

Subject matter
As one of the founders of Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group (1947), Raza strove to disconnect contemporary Indian painting from the European realism that overwhelmed Indian academic painting and create a greater connection to "Antar gyan" (inner knowledge). This painting was produced once he had settled in Paris, after receiving a grant from the French government to study at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1950-1953). Works like this combine expressionist painterly techniques with a depiction of idyllic lanscapes—Raza was particularly enamored by the landscapes of the French countryside. Pointing to the more pure abstraction of his work after 1970, this painting shows the development of Indian modernism away from any colonial references.

Physical Description
This oil painting has an abstract composition at the lower right with clusters of white patches against a black and deep blue background. The painting is signed and dated (l.c.) "Raza '63".

Primary Object Classification
Painting

Primary Object Type
abstract landscape

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Indian (South Asian)
Modernist
Nature
abstraction
landscapes (representations)

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved