S. H. Raza
Syed Haider Raza Alias S.H. Raza (born 22 February 1922) is an Indian artist who has lived and worked in France since 1950, but maintains strong ties with India.
His works are mainly abstracts in oil or acrylic, with a very rich use of color, replete with icons from Indian cosmology as well as its philosophy. He was awarded the Padma Shri and Fellowship of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1981, Padma Bhushan in 2007, and Padma Vibhushan in 2013. He was conferred with the highest French civilian honour, the Commandeur de la Legion d'honneur (Legion of Honour) on July 14, 2015.
He became one of India's priciest modern artist on 10 June 2010 when a seminal work, Saurashtra by the 88-year-old was sold for ₹ 16.42 crore ($3,486,965) at a Christie's auction.
Early life and education
Syed Haider Raza was born in Babaria,Mandla district, Madhya Pradesh, to Sayed Mohammed Razi, the Deputy Forest Ranger of the district and Tahira Begum, and it was here that he spent his early years and took to drawing at age 12; before moving to Damoh also in Madhya Pradesh at 13, where he completed his school education from Government High School, Damoh.