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Lot Essay
This painting is accompanied by a photograph of the work inscribed and signed on reverse by the artist and dated to 7th June, 2003. Raza states that the painting was part of the 1956 exhibition, Peintres temoins de leur temps, organized by the influential French artist and critic Isis Kischka.
Raza, like his Progressive Artist Group contemporaries, experimented with currents of Western Modernism moving from Expressionist modes towards greater abstraction. Whereas his fellow contemporaries dealt with more figural subjects, Raza chose to focus on landscapes and nature studies in the 1940's and 50's. He moved to France in 1949 and became enamored with the countryside and village settings. Sports is an unusual departure for Raza, depicting jockeys and dogs on a hunting expedition dominated by an expansive and colorful landscape. The subject matter and the manner of brushstrokes harken respectively to the works of Degas and Cezanne where bold brushstrokes and bright colors combined with the play of light to display varied textures and nuances. However, there may also be a precedent in the subject and in the flattened composition from Mughal and Rajasthani miniatures which often depict aristocrats at play.
Raza, like his Progressive Artist Group contemporaries, experimented with currents of Western Modernism moving from Expressionist modes towards greater abstraction. Whereas his fellow contemporaries dealt with more figural subjects, Raza chose to focus on landscapes and nature studies in the 1940's and 50's. He moved to France in 1949 and became enamored with the countryside and village settings. Sports is an unusual departure for Raza, depicting jockeys and dogs on a hunting expedition dominated by an expansive and colorful landscape. The subject matter and the manner of brushstrokes harken respectively to the works of Degas and Cezanne where bold brushstrokes and bright colors combined with the play of light to display varied textures and nuances. However, there may also be a precedent in the subject and in the flattened composition from Mughal and Rajasthani miniatures which often depict aristocrats at play.