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Lot Essay
The female body was a means to express both torment and fascination for Francis Newton Souza. Frequently revisiting this archetype throughout his long career, Souza’s varying engagement with the figure of the woman is well documented. These works explore a wide range of physiognomies from the most sublime and tender nudes to distorted and grotesque figures, expressing the artist’s complex views on the human condition, corruption, sexuality and religion.
In the first monograph on Souza published 1962, Edwin Mullins discusses the significance of the female nude in Souza’s practice, noting that the artist’s “women [...] clearly have their origins in Indian stone carvings and bronzes. Yet in spirit they are not traditional […] On the whole his paintings of nudes are more gentle than most of his other work; they have less impassioned ferocity about them. At the same time they are often perverse and obsessed. The inelegant sexual poses, the blunt emphasis on the pregnant belly, the ravaged face. They suggest a personal fascination with the female body, blended with an almost Swiftian disgust with its natural functions.” (E. Mullins, Souza, London, 1962, p. 43)
The present lot was painted in 1958, a time when Souza had won critical recognition, patronage and gallery representation in London. The famed art critic John Berger had already highlighted the artist's originality in an article in the New Statesman, noting “Analysis breaks down and intuition takes over. It is obvious that he is a superb designer and an excellent draughtsman. But I find it impossible to assess his work comparatively. Because he straddles several traditions but serves none.” (A. Kurtha, Francis Newton Souza: Bridging Western and Indian Modern Art, Ahmedabad, 2006, p. 190)
The nudes Souza painted during this period are among his most powerful compositions, underlining his confidence in their thick black lines and unabashed, sculptural figuration. Emerging from a mottled crimson background, the subject in this painting illustrates the artist’s preference for robust figures in bold frontal poses, echoing the forms he discovered in the temple sculptures of Khajuraho and Mathura. While the voluptuous curves of his subject’s body are reminiscent of Picasso’s poetic geometry of forms, her frontal gaze captivates the viewer and evokes a sense of monumentality. Souza’s mastery is evident in the delicate layering of color and the subtle play of light and shade he uses to delineate her body.
Here we see, both in subject and technique, the work of a master at his creative zenith. Painted in the year Souza was selected to represent Great Britain in the Guggenheim International Award exhibition, this work embodies the iconic style that earned Souza acclaim and cemented his position among the greatest international modernists.
In the first monograph on Souza published 1962, Edwin Mullins discusses the significance of the female nude in Souza’s practice, noting that the artist’s “women [...] clearly have their origins in Indian stone carvings and bronzes. Yet in spirit they are not traditional […] On the whole his paintings of nudes are more gentle than most of his other work; they have less impassioned ferocity about them. At the same time they are often perverse and obsessed. The inelegant sexual poses, the blunt emphasis on the pregnant belly, the ravaged face. They suggest a personal fascination with the female body, blended with an almost Swiftian disgust with its natural functions.” (E. Mullins, Souza, London, 1962, p. 43)
The present lot was painted in 1958, a time when Souza had won critical recognition, patronage and gallery representation in London. The famed art critic John Berger had already highlighted the artist's originality in an article in the New Statesman, noting “Analysis breaks down and intuition takes over. It is obvious that he is a superb designer and an excellent draughtsman. But I find it impossible to assess his work comparatively. Because he straddles several traditions but serves none.” (A. Kurtha, Francis Newton Souza: Bridging Western and Indian Modern Art, Ahmedabad, 2006, p. 190)
The nudes Souza painted during this period are among his most powerful compositions, underlining his confidence in their thick black lines and unabashed, sculptural figuration. Emerging from a mottled crimson background, the subject in this painting illustrates the artist’s preference for robust figures in bold frontal poses, echoing the forms he discovered in the temple sculptures of Khajuraho and Mathura. While the voluptuous curves of his subject’s body are reminiscent of Picasso’s poetic geometry of forms, her frontal gaze captivates the viewer and evokes a sense of monumentality. Souza’s mastery is evident in the delicate layering of color and the subtle play of light and shade he uses to delineate her body.
Here we see, both in subject and technique, the work of a master at his creative zenith. Painted in the year Souza was selected to represent Great Britain in the Guggenheim International Award exhibition, this work embodies the iconic style that earned Souza acclaim and cemented his position among the greatest international modernists.