Syed Haider Raza (1922 – 2016) was Paris-based since the Fifties. The genesis of Raza’s paintings was based on the concept of the Bindu or the black focal point of concentration, which had its origin in his childhood spent in India. He lived in a remote village in the primeval forests of Madhya Pradesh, among the rituals, signs and symbols of the Gond and Bhil tribals, the colourful village market, under the brilliant sun of Central India. These were to surface much later in the Seventies in Paris. There, his childhood memories resulted in an entirely new ‘plastic creation’. Based on the elemental form of the powerful sun, the black Bindu set amid brilliant Indian colours, associated with the early Jain and Rajput miniatures, expresses the pulsating primal energy of the Universe. The artist uses the circle, triangle, square and diagonal line metaphorically to represent mountains, forests, ravines and rivers of his homeland. Denying any influence of tantric art in his works, Raza was deeply involved with nature.