Trishna

Executed twelve years after Raza had moved to Paris, this painting is an evocation of the smouldering desert landscape of Rajasthan refracting through the palette of deep reds, oranges and yellows. While painted at the height of Raza's experiments in Abstract Expressionism, the work is tinged with nostalgia for a landscape that need not be observed in reality as imagined and felt. The connection to Rajasthan and its painting traditions is further envisaged by Raza's palette which is inspired by the works of Mewar and Malwa court painters of the 17th and 18th centuries.