An Indian born artist, Syed Haider Raza (alias S.H. Raza) or better known as the 'master of colours' is one of the most distinguished artists of the century. S H Raza's artwork is known across the globe and he has earned a reputation as one of the finest artists and painters of all times.

After having completed his schooling and college, he moved to France where he has predominantly worked. While his schooling was mainly completed in Madhya Pradesh; he completed his further studied from the Nagpur School of Art, Nagpur, followed by Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay. He was one of the founders of the Progressive Artist's Group along with along with K.H. Ara and F.N. Souza; where he struggled to develop a modernist language. S H Raza's arts.

He had held many exhibitions of his art works in India before he moved to France where he studied painting at the ‰cole nationale sup©rieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSB-A) (the government of France had granted him a scholarship.)

Soon after, one of his earliest achievements, soon after was the Prix de la critique in Paris in 1956 where he became the first non-French artist to receive this honour.

His artistic career has been centred on the pursuit of the 'significant form'. The themes of his early paintings draw inspiration from his memories of his childhood spent in the forests of his native village Barbaria, Madhya Pradesh. Over the years his themes have evolved and likewise his artistic style. Having begun with expressionist landscapes, this later turned into rigid, geometric representations of French towns and villages in the early 1950s (following his move to Paris.)

This was slowly followed by the lines blurring and the use of colour dominating the theme of his paintings. The main theme of his paintings was predominantly landscapes; but soon over time this changed to become non-representational; representing his emotions/sentiments. This was soon followed by pure geometrical forms. His images were improvisations of an essential theme.

S H Raza has always emphasized on western modernism and his paintings have depicted abstraction where he has integrated rudiments of Tantrism which retains Indian scriptural texts. Being mainly a nature based painter, he has come a long way from painting expressionistic landscapes to abstract ones.

He has also drawn inspiration from the rustic countryside of rural France where he has captured the architectural beauty of the region. He uses pattern of wavy brush strokes and other artistic painting styles. His paintings are a depiction of his own inner experience and involvement with the ambiguity of nature which is translated in colour, line, space and light.

He has many honours and achievements to his name; some of which include winning a Silver and Gold Medal at the Bombay Art Society, awarded the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India, the Kalidas Samman from the Government of Madhya Pradesh, The Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship, (Lalit Kala Akademi Ratna).

Besides this, he is also the Founder of the Raza Foundation in India which is a platform for young artists to promote their art. He has held many exhibitions in different parts of India and the world namely Mumbai, Bhopal and New Delhi Venice, Sao Paulo, and Menton biennales in France. He has also been a visiting lecturer at the art department of Berkeley, where he was invited by the University of California.
His stands out characteristics in his paintings include heavy paint and pulsating colours; and are mainly done in in acrylic and oil mediums. S.H. Raza's paintings also revolved around the Indian dot (Bindu) which was one of the turning points in his career. The Bindu was a trademark in most of his paintings and he firmly believed that the Bindu is the centre of creation and existence and everything else revolves around it; resonating joy, meditation and modern tantric tankhas.

Many of the symbols in his paintings included vishudh chakra, triangles, six pointed stars and the points depict God, Lord Shiv, the ascent and descent of the grace from God and Man and other realities of our Universe. His paintings are a mixture of modern sensitivity and ancient Indian practicum on truth.

Today many of S H Raza's arts are auctioned at many online art auction houses and are bought for significant prices.

S.H. Raza is not only one of the inspiring faces for the aspiring painters, but will continue to remain a LIVING LEGEND in the field of art and to art aficionados.