Untitled (Studies after Religious Themes)

Details

FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA (1924-2002)
Untitled (Studies after Religious Themes)
embossed 'Souza' (lower right); signed and dated 'Souza 61' (lower right); signed and dated 'Souza 1966' (upper centre)
ink on paper; graphite on paper; ink on paper
10 3/8 x 7 7/8 in. (26.5 x 20.2 cm.); 14½ x 10 5/8 in. (37 x 27.1 cm.); 16¾ x 10 7/8 in. (42.7 x 27.8 cm.)
Executed circa 1950s; 1961; 1966
Group of three works on paper (3)

Literature

Untitled (Jesus), F. Souza and G. Melly eds., F. N. Souza: Religion and Erotica, London, 2005, p. 37 (illustrated)

Exhibited

Untitled (Jesus)
London, Tate Britain, Religion and Erotica, 2005 - 2006

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Lot Essay

The Roman Catholic Church had a tremendous influence over me, not its dogmas but its grand architecture and the splendour of its services. The priest dressed in richly embroidered vestments, each of his garments from the biretta to the chasuble symbolising the accoutrement of Christ's passion [...].
(F. N. Souza, Words and Lines, first published London, 1959 and a second edition New Delhi, 1997, p. 10)

"[In...] a portrait of Christ, his neck and torso pierced by two symbolic arrows, there is hardly room to jam on the crown of thorns [...]. The arrows also appear elsewhere, surely a symbol of suffering, borrowed from that pincushion, St. Sebastian."
(G. Melly, Preface to F. N. Souza: Religion & Erotica, London, 2005, p. 9)

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