Artist S H Raza passes away at age 94

A torch-bearer of modern Indian art, Syed Haider Raza, passed away on 23 July at the age of 94 following a period of prolonged illness.

Raza was suffering from old-age related ailments and was in the ICU of a private hospital for the last two months.

"The end came at 11:AM," poet Ashok Vajpeyi, a close friend of the artist, told PTI.

The last rites will be conducted in Mandala in Madhya Pradesh, according to his wishes.

In 2010, he became one of India's priciest modern artist when his seminal work, Saurashtra, was sold at a Christie's auction for a whopping Rs 16.42 crore.

While his early works focussed on the expressionist style of painting, he was later taken to abstract and geometric art, after being heavily influenced by Indian spirituality.

Raza, a co-founder of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group, spent a majority of his life in France where he was conferred the Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur - the highest French honour - in 2015.

He was also awarded the Padma Shri and Fellowship of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1981, the Padma Bhushan in 2007 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2013.

--With agency inputs