Raza and His Contemporaries

The exhibition is presented by Dhoomimal Gallery and draws from the Ravi Jain Collection of modern Indian art. It has been curated by Yashodhara Dalmia – eminent art historian, independent curator and author of the recent biography ‘Sayed Haider Raza: The Journey of an Iconic Artist’. The exhibition will have works of 20 significant artists who played a crucial role in overthrowing notions of academic art, creating a solid bid for the liberalizing of practices and shaping modernism in Indian art.

The exhibition celebrates S. H. Raza’s achievements as well as those of his contemporaries in the Progressive Artists Group – which included Sayed Haider Raza, M.F. Husain, F.N. Souza, K.H. Ara, S. Bakre and H.A. Gade- and the simultaneous emergence of other influential artists of his time such as J. Swaminathan, K.G. Subramanyan, Pradosh Dasgupta, Biren De, Jamini Roy, Zarina Hashmi and others. This was the grand generation which worked hard to achieve excellence in art and succeeded in placing India on the international art map.

The exhibition focuses on S.H. Raza, in his centenary year, as one of the main initiators of the Progressive Artists Group, and explores the richly diverse voices and influences that coloured Indian modernism. The exhibition traces Raza’s sweeps of brilliance from primary colours and sizzling Bindu’s to his rise in the international art world in Paris to become a household name in Indian art.