I’m one of those Philistines. I dig modern art more than the classics, and Rothkos are pretty to look at, but their high price utterly escapes me. I’m very finicky about what I read, but I sometimes feel like I was born without certain senses. A sommelier in my kitchen might be bored by the mundaneness of the choices. I wish someone would sit down and say, ‘It’s ok. Most people think someone is crazy-eyed when they mention the top notes in a wine’s bouquet. Really, you’re perfectly normal.’

So I’m probably not the best person to introduce this post, but here goes. A NYC art gallery is exhibiting the works of the eminent Indian abstract painter Syed Haider Raza:

Raza’s form was heavily influenced by the Abstract Expressionism of the New York School of Painters including Sam Francis, Kandinsky and Rothko. He has also been especially inspired by moderist masters, particularly by the feverish intensity of color of Cezanne and Van Gogh’s work. However, the underlying and continuing inspiration in his work has been his homeland, India…

Born in Madhya Pradesh, India in 1922, Raza studied at the JJ School of Art, Bombay. In 1950 he received a scholarship from the French government to study at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was awarded the Prix de la Critique in 1956 in France. In 1962, The University of California, Berkeley, invited him as a visiting lecturer where he did some pivotal work. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the President of India, the highest honor bestowed by the Indian Government. He currently lives and works in Gorbio [in France] and Paris.

This is the first show for my buddy Priyanka Mathew, the new gallery director. She says, ‘He’s 82, and this probably will be a rare and perhaps final visit to New York. A disciple of his, Sujata Bajaj, will also be mounted.’ I assure you she’s referring to Bajaj’s paintings  Bajaj shuttles between homes in Norway, France and Pune along a disjoint meridian.

Here are photos from an exhibition of Raza’s work last year. Here’s the gallery’s current Indian art exhibit, Shakti 2005. It’s quite lovely.