Sayed Haider Raza (India, 1922-2016)La Terre (The Earth)
1983

signed and dated 83; signed, titled and dated on the reverse
acrylic on canvas

90 x 90 cm (35 7/16 x 35 7/16 in)注脚Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist in Paris in 1985
Unicorn Art Gallery, Pakistan
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2010

賽意德‧海德爾‧拉扎
地球
壓克力畫布
1983年作

簽名:Raza 83
背面簽名:Raza 1983 La Terre

來源
前藏家於1985年直接購自藝術家
獨角獸藝術畫廊, 巴基斯坦
現藏家於2010年購自上述收藏

My work is my own inner experience and involvement with the mysteries of nature and form which is expressed in colour, line, space and light.

- S. H. Raza

La Terre by celebrated Indian modernist Sayed Haider (S. H.) Raza is a work that hails from a pivotal point in the artist's more than half a decade career. In the 1970s, Raza grew increasingly dissatisfied with the direction of his works, and looked to find greater authenticity. This desire drove him to take trips in India from France where he had been living since 1950 after beginning studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His trips opened his eyes to the depth and profundity of Indian culture and history.

In 1980, he finally made a breakthrough, abandoning an expressionist approach to move towards geometric abstraction. This decisive moment in Raza's career was marked by his discovery of the philosophical and cultural potency of the bindu (dot). In Sanskrit, the word bindu literally means point, or dot and in Indian philosophy, it denotes the point of all creation; the source of space, time and consciousness.

Around the circle in La Terre are layers of interlocking geometric forms, with the tribhuj (triangle) form particularly distinct. Simultaneously slipping and emerging from within each other, a fomenting and shimmering play of surfaces, this is earth in its essence, an organic body of perpetual flux. The bindu is cast as the centre of creation and existence progressing towards forms and colour, time and space.

The complete integration of visual and philosophical viewpoints in La Terre marks the remarkable evolution of Raza's works – from the accomplished but ultimately reality-bound landscapes of the 1940s, to the breakthrough works of his Bombay Progressive Artists' Group (PAG) days, and his later expressionist works of the 60s and 70s. With La Terre, Raza was painting landscapes of the mind, elevating himself beyond material concerns.

我的作品源自於我的個人內在經驗，並借以色彩、線條、空間和光，表現自然與造形的奧妙。
S・H・拉扎

印度現代主義大師S・H・拉扎的藝術生涯長達五十多年，《大地》繪於其最重要的創作時期。從一九七〇年代開始，拉扎越來越不滿自己的創作方向，於是尋找更多的原創可能。拉扎自一九五〇年代來到巴黎國立高等美術學院深造便不曾離開，但為了尋求藝術上的突破，他毅然決然離開法國前往印度，未料視野大開，從此沉浸在印度深奧的文化和歷史之中著迷不已。

在一九八〇年，拉扎終於取得重要突破，他揮別抽象表現主義，轉往何抽象幾的新道路。這關鍵的轉捩點，肇始於他接觸到印度bindu（明點）的哲學與文化意義，梵文的bindu為「點」、「圓點」的意思，在印度哲學觀中代表萬物的中心，是空間、時間和意識的開端。

《大地》一作以圓點為中心，重疊交錯著許多幾何圖形，尤以tribhuj（三角形）最顯而易見。這些圖形彼此交錯又覆蓋所形成的畫面閃爍而充滿活力，恰如有機體般千變萬化的大地。作品中的bindu是世界萬物的中心與存在，形、顏色與時空均依此不斷演進。

拉扎從一九四〇年代的精彩寫實風景作品出發，期間歷經孟買藝術進步聯盟時期，後來發展出六〇與七〇年代的表現主義風格。《大地》作為拉扎創作歷程中的重要作品，不僅完整呈現出其藝術創作的進程，更融合了拉扎對視覺與哲學的觀點。透過《大地》，拉扎企圖超脫世俗紛擾，繪出心靈的風景。