S. H. Raza was one of India’s most influential modern artists, widely admired for bringing together modern abstraction and Indian spiritual thought. He was born in Babaria, a small village in Madhya Pradesh, where the surrounding forests and landscapes shaped his early visual imagination and interest in drawing.
Raza’s formal training in art began in Nagpur, where he studied at the Nagpur School of Art. The experience helped him build a strong foundation in painting and introduced him to a broader artistic environment. He later moved to Mumbai to study at the Sir J. J. School of Art, where his style and artistic vision developed further.
In 1947, Raza became a founding member of the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group, a collective that sought to move beyond colonial academic styles and create a new modern language for Indian art. Soon after, he moved to France to continue his studies and spent much of his career there, absorbing international influences while staying deeply connected to his Indian roots.
Raza’s early works often depicted landscapes and towns, but his art gradually evolved toward abstraction. His most iconic motif, the Bindu, became central to his paintings. For Raza, the Bindu symbolized the point of creation and the cosmic center of the universe, reflecting ideas drawn from Indian philosophy and spirituality.
Known for his bold colours and geometric forms, Raza gained international recognition and received several honours, including the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan. He passed away in 2016 in New Delhi at the age of 94, leaving behind a profound legacy in modern Indian art.