Untitled (King)

Details

FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA (1924-2002)
Untitled (King)
signed and dated 'Souza 61' (center right); further signed 'F.N. SOUZA' and inscribed 'For Chris with love & friendship London January 1962 What's this thing? Is it a cat Or is it a King Or is it a self-portrait?' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
35 x 23 in. (88.9 x 58.4 cm.)
Painted in 1961

Provenance

Gift of the artist to Ms. Christina McGuinness
Ms. McGuinness met FN Souza while living in London in the early 1960s. They met at an exhibition opening through their mutual friend Ida Kar, a photographer well-known for her portraits of artists and writers. For several months, while Ms. McGuinness worked in advertising, they shared a friendship with an eclectic crowd, including artist Brett Whitely. Ms. McGuinness modeled for Souza and is protrayed in several of his drawings.

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Lot Essay

"A crowned king, an emperor or an ex-emperor and the Pope were some of Souza's favoured images. They fitted in with his highly critical view of persons in power, especially those who attain their positions largely by virtue of heredity or convention and who thereafter impose their self-centered and retrogressive views on others." (A. Kurtha, Francis Newton Souza: Bridging Western and Indian Modern Art, Ahmedabad, 2006, p. 165) Here, the king is distinguished by his large crown and brilliantly bold red robe. The elaborately decorated background is something we see in many of Souza's portraits from 1961-62, when he began moving away from his signature cross-hatching technique.

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