Abdul Aziz Raiba

Characterized by bold figures, minimal colours and crisp contours, Abdul Aziz Raiba (1922- 2016) oeuvre employs a deliberate and naïve perspective. Being born in a tailors family in Bombay, India, and belonging to a mixed-race lineage, Raiba, on a scholarship, was an alumnus of the Sir JJ School of Art in Bombay.

A veteran in the art scene, Raiba was a master at his craft of painting on jute. With the pursuit of possessing a unique signature style, Raiba rejected western norms of painting landscapes. He had a way of giving his work a three-dimensional style by blurring the horizon and focusing on the nativity. Particularly, his compositions followed the miniature painting style, hitherto depicting common routine scenes.

Upon seeking advice from Walter Laghammer, the then art director of Times of India, he took up his residence in Srinagar for inspiration in the age when contemporary artists and their peers were moving to Paris. To sketch, he would often visit the popular Mughal gardens of Srinagar. He then travelled the sub-continent in search of inspiration, which followed a series of sketches of allusions to humans, animals and folk motifs that he witnessed while visiting temples of Himachal Pradesh. Inclined towards poetry and subtle aestheticism, his work is a reflection of his imaginative mind.

Raiba is one of the radical modern artists of the JJ, who was not a part of the famed league. Nevertheless, his career journey gradually acquired the light of the day, seeking to carve him as one of the veterans in the modern and contemporary scene. He is most famous for two of his ambitious projects: paintings for the commemoration of poet Ghalib’s centenary and a series based on colonial records from 18th century Bombay's islands. AA Raiba lived and worked in Mumbai, India.