Sayed Haider Raza LH was an Indian painter who lived and worked in France for most of his career. Born on 22 February 1922 in Kakkaiya, Central Provinces, British India, Raza moved to France in 1950, marrying the French artist Janine Mongillat in 1959.

His first solo exhibition earned him not only the entrance to the art world but also a silver medal from Bombay Art Society which hosted and housed the show in 1946, Mumbai. In 1947, he co-founded the renowned Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group with F.N. Souza which successfully stormed the art world till 1956. Raza has had an astonishing creative career, including a number of well known solo exhibitions such as SH Raza – Parikrama – Around Gandhi, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2014); SH Raza – Pyaas, Grosvenor Vadehra, London (2014); Aarambh – Raza at 93, Akar Prakar, Kolkata (2015); Galerie Lara Vincy, Paris (2015); and Nirantar, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata (2016), to mention his more recent shows.