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Lot Essay
Francis Newton Souza’s “[…] depiction of blatantly nude women was something of an act of defiance against the forbidden act. But as always, impacted on this was the mature realization of the prudish hypocrisy of society that repressed its own undercurrents of smut and corruption. In many ways his women baring their thighs or sitting nude astride a chair, were in open defiance of the hypocritical mores of society. At all times, even at their demonic best, his women were monumental” (Y. Dalmia, Souza in London, New Delhi, 2004, p. 12).
Like the Tahitian nudes of Paul Gauguin, the instantly recognizable female nudes that Souza painted in the late 1950s possess both a strong sexual aura and a sense of the primitive, the other and the unfamiliar. Combining Georges Rouault’s thick black lines with a cubistic structure and African tribal masks, the artist gives these figures a sculptural quality that calls into mind the early twentieth century work of Pablo Picasso, epitomized in the 1907 painting, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Souza combines these Western and African inspirations with antecedents from Indian classical sculpture.
In the first monograph on Souza published in 1962, the artist’s biographer 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, titled Girl in a Cardigan and painted in 1957, is an eroticized yet intimate portrait, most likely of Souza’s partner at the time, Liselotte Kristian. The artist captures his subject in a state of semi-undress covering only her breasts with a navy blue cardigan whilst almost comically leaving her lower body exposed. The painting has a playful sense of intimacy, as if Souza has frozen in paint a moment of romantic exhibitionism between lovers. The delicate details of his subject’s soft blue cardigan and fair hair contrast starkly with her indignantly folded arms, statuesque pose and mask like facial features, all set against an auburn background. Souza expertly preserves a sense of elegance and grace in his rendering of the female figure here to create a sensitive and loving portrait, devoid of any violent sexualization or overt salaciousness.
Like the Tahitian nudes of Paul Gauguin, the instantly recognizable female nudes that Souza painted in the late 1950s possess both a strong sexual aura and a sense of the primitive, the other and the unfamiliar. Combining Georges Rouault’s thick black lines with a cubistic structure and African tribal masks, the artist gives these figures a sculptural quality that calls into mind the early twentieth century work of Pablo Picasso, epitomized in the 1907 painting, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Souza combines these Western and African inspirations with antecedents from Indian classical sculpture.
In the first monograph on Souza published in 1962, the artist’s biographer 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, titled Girl in a Cardigan and painted in 1957, is an eroticized yet intimate portrait, most likely of Souza’s partner at the time, Liselotte Kristian. The artist captures his subject in a state of semi-undress covering only her breasts with a navy blue cardigan whilst almost comically leaving her lower body exposed. The painting has a playful sense of intimacy, as if Souza has frozen in paint a moment of romantic exhibitionism between lovers. The delicate details of his subject’s soft blue cardigan and fair hair contrast starkly with her indignantly folded arms, statuesque pose and mask like facial features, all set against an auburn background. Souza expertly preserves a sense of elegance and grace in his rendering of the female figure here to create a sensitive and loving portrait, devoid of any violent sexualization or overt salaciousness.