Raza’s 'La Terre' to go under the hammer in NY; will masterpiece create another record for the artist?

Sayed Haider Raza’s 'La Terre', painted in 1977 is up for grabs at the upcoming South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art auction (September 11, New York) by Christie’s. The estimate is available only on request. But for context, last March Christie’s New York established the highest price ever paid in the category of South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art, when 'Tapovan' by Raza sold for $4,452,500. This was also a new world auction record for the artist.

The auction house refers to 'La Terre' as “an equally important masterpiece.” According to the auction house, the work is fresh to the market and having been acquired directly from the artist by a private French collector, before it was sold in 1993 to its present owner comes with “great provenance.” It was publicly seen for the last time in 2003, in Berlin, at the Fine Art Resource, during the exhibition S. H. Raza: Paintings from 1966 to 2003.

“In the early 1970s, Raza’s paintings were like paeans to the sensuousness of nature and to the living landscape of his childhood home. In these works, primary pigments were balanced against black as their ultimate source and black as mother of all colors. Color remained the most important component of his work till the very end of his life. An understanding of the aesthetic relevance of color, thus, is of the utmost importance to engage with Raza’s work,” according to a release shared by Christie’s.


Painted in 1977, 'La Terre' is one of the largest works (174 x 260 cm.) from this period of Raza’s life.

“The scale and depth of this painting are instantly captivating, invoking a deep sense of land by fusing abstract and symbolic forms into a powerful and mystic expression of the mood and atmosphere of the Indian nightscape. There are less than twenty documented paintings by the artist of similar size and caliber, and even fewer from this period, the 1970s. Zamin (1971), from the collection of the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, is the only documented painting by the artist of comparable scale to the present lot,” said the auction house.