Sayed Haider Raza is one of the founders of the Progressive Artist's Group. His early themes were drawn from his memories of a childhood spent in the forests of his native village of Barbaria, in Madhya Pradesh.

Raza's style has evolved over the years - he began with expressionist landscapes, which became rigid, geometric representations of French towns and villages in the early 1950s, following his move to Paris. Later, the lines blurred and colour began to dominate; his theme was still landscape but it was now non-representational, speaking to the sentiment evoked by a place rather than its tangible aspects.

The artist calls his recent work a "result of two parallel enquiries". Firstly, it is aimed at a "pure plastic order" and secondly, it concerns the theme of nature. Both converge into a single point and become inseparable - the "Bindu" (the dot or the epicentre). "The Bindu symbolizes the seed, bearing the potential of all life". Raza's representation of nature is more conceptual than representative. It is timeless and unreal. His art is mainly based on multivalent symbols which are often accompanied by Hindi words or poetries.