Terre Rouge

Terre Rouge belongs to a series of works done by Raza shortly after he moved to Paris in 1950. The charm of the French countryside clearly made an impression on the artist and is wonderfully recorded. Here, he has shown a collection of houses set against a rich inky blue night sky with a bright landscape in the foreground. The depiction of recognizable elements in the landscape is as important as communicating a "certain climate of experience" which is done through the use of animated brushstrokes. Brushstrokes, along with color, "create the mood" and become key elements in his work.

What results is "not an outward manifestation of reality as in his earliest works, or the imaginary landscapes in his early gouaches - but the 'real thing', through the substantial realm of color. It is no longer nature as 'seen' or as 'constructed', but nature as experienced." (Geeti Sen, Bindu: Space and Time in Raza's Vision, New Delhi, 1997, p. 79.)