A friend indeed
Krishen Khanna - artist
I was in the bank when I met him. I eventually quit my banking job and when I did that Raza threw a party in Paris to celebrate the occasion. I wasn’t even there but that happy he was for me. Our friendship blossomed when I went to Paris in 1954. I used to go there often and stay with him there. I remember one of my shows did extremely well after which I bought an expensive coat. In Paris, some colour got rubbed off on it. Raza had a scooter those days and he took me to several chemist shops to get a stain remover particularly effective for colours. We talked about everything, painting, women. He loved women as much as I do. And we always kept in touch. Vajpeyi (Ashok Vajpeyi) literally extricated him from Paris and brought him back. He was taken care of extremely well.
If Raza wasn't a painter, he would have disappeared from the earth a long time back because he lived to paint. We painters give adequate expression to our passion and that is what kept him going. We have lost two seminal artists recently – first K. G. Subramanyan and now Raza.
‘As a teacher he provoke me to think’
Manish Pushkale, disciple
I never learnt art formally and some of my most basic and significant learning about the discipline happened through Raza Sahab. He told me to look at the world going beyond what we see through our eyes which is the retinal reality. As a teacher he provoked me to think. He gave me lot of questions but never their answers. He said everyone has to find their own answers. I met him in 1992 and till 1999 our interaction was about him talking. I listened, I watched and I learnt. It took me seven years to be able to have conversations with him, to share my confusion and to have a dialogue. I couldn't put it in words earlier. He was humble and one could ask him anything and he would answer. He would give one complete attention and that is why he was always surrounded by not just me but hundreds of young art students like me.
Raza Sahab never imposed himself on others. His lessons were mostly his life experiences. He also told us what he is struggling for. But inspite of the struggle, he taught us to have unconditional belief and consistency.
He was painting till the time he could and was admitted to the hospital. Since his faculties were diminishing, the doctor told me to go near him and shout into his ears. I shouted ‘Raza Sahab get up. Lets paint.’ His fingers moved.
In October, Baudoin Gallery in Paris is having a show of Raza Sahab’s and my works. I was telling him to be prepared to go to Paris. But he won’t be there.
‘A relationship beyond business’
Arun Vadehra, Vadehra Art Gallery
Our relationship went beyond that of between a gallerist and an artist. We met frequently and discussed everything. He arrived on the scene from day one even when he would sell his painting on the streets. His bindu, the shunya or the seed was an all important thing and that is why people loved it. He invented forms. For him, formology was the key for him in art.
We had his show almost every year. The gallery had his last solo in February 2016. On July 31, we are paying a tribute to him at Chinmaya Mission.
(As told to Shailaja Tripathi)
