Raza's Gandhi: A set of paintings unveiled for the first time

Iconic modernist painter Syed Haider Raza's admiration for Mahatma Gandhi, which began at the age of eight, inspired a set of seven paintings that are being exhibited for the first time.
The paintings, made by Raza in 2013, are being shown by Akar Prakar gallery in collaboration with the Raza Foundation.
Titled, "Gandhi in Raza", the show which marked the 95th birth anniversary of the master-artist yesterday, incorporates seven acrylics paintings inspired by the Gandhian concepts of 'truth' and 'peace'.
"Raza made many works of art in his lifetime using the ideology and words of Mahatma Gandhi, however this is the first time that an entire body of work has been dedicated to the Mahatma, by the master. It is like a 'parikrama' by a painter around a great soul who always inspired him," says Reena Lath, Director of Akar Prakar gallery.

Poet-critic Ashok Vajpeyi, a close friend of Raza, says the painter wanted to explore the conceptual universe of the Mahatma in the 'saptak'.
"Barely two years after his residence in India, I found him doing a canvas in very subdued hues. I was intrigued since his usual geometrical shapes were not there. One of the paintings have the last words of the Mahatma as he fell down dead to the bullets of his assassin saying 'Hey Ram'," recalls Vajpeyi.

In another painting, titled "Shanti", the artist has portrayed peace along with his famous 'bindu', which he strongly believed was the focal point of energy.

"Raza recapitulates his old theme of peace -- the heart of being as he perceives it. He strongly believed that energy, centralised as it was for him in bindu, flows towards peace," says Vajpeyi.
He created a personal reverence for Bapu's bhajans in the paintings, "Sabko Sammati De Bhagwan" and "Peer Parai" by creating images in vibrant hues.
His adulation for his mother tongue- Hindi has been beautifully caligraphed in the painting "Swadharma". Barring few exceptions, Raza always inscribed in Sanskrit, Urdu or or in Devnagri.
"At 91, he struggled to write all the words on the canvas and then he created this painting with its colours almost ablaze suggesting that you glow only after you have realized your 'Swadharma'," says Vajpeyi.

The painting signifies Raza's dharma which "was to paint" and he stayed true to his philosophy and painted continuously till he passed away in July 2016.
"As a painter he was fascinated by words and always treated them with awe and regard. The words of Mahatma were for him almost holy scriptures and he put them on the canvas in full primacy," adds Vajpeyi.
The month-long exhibition will begin from March 1.