New Delhi, April 9 -- In a letter written to artist Janine Mongillat, while he was courting her in Paris, Syed Haider Raza, one of India's foremost modern masters, had promised her, "I will bring my time." Raza had arrived in France on a scholarship to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Art in 1950, where he first met Mongillat, who later became his wife. These words, written in a stream of consciousness, have acquired immense significance in retrospect. Raza-a colourist par excellence, who brought a certain spirituality to his work-is one of the most celebrated artists, worldwide, today.

Feted during his lifetime and beyond, he became the first non-European to be awarded the prestigious Prix de la Critique in 1955, which made him part of an e...