F N Souza
(1924 - 2002)
Christ in Blue
F N Souza's portraits, especially his renditions of 'Heads,' represented his lifelong interest in the human condition. They began to dominate his oeuvre from the 1940s onwards, maturing stylistically over the decades. The artist also had a complex relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, which played a fundamental role in shaping Souza's personal beliefs and his art, which sometimes explored ecclesiastical themes. As much as he was in awe of...
F N Souza's portraits, especially his renditions of 'Heads,' represented his lifelong interest in the human condition. They began to dominate his oeuvre from the 1940s onwards, maturing stylistically over the decades. The artist also had a complex relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, which played a fundamental role in shaping Souza's personal beliefs and his art, which sometimes explored ecclesiastical themes. As much as he was in awe of its pomp and pageantry, Souza also found the puritanical dogmas and practices of the Church repressive. The present lot combines Souza's thematic interests, depicting a portrait of Christ in the artist's trademark style against a striking blue background. "It is in depicting heads that Souza introduced his most inventive features that bring to the fore his whole painterly arsenal. His use of colour is conventional with thick, rigid strokes of paint squeezed straight from the tube on to the canvas. Their burnished quality is reminiscent of the old masters, its expressive content not fully exploited and not in cohesion with the radical quality of the subject." (Yashodhara Dalmia, "A Passion for the Human Figure," The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 93)
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Lot
34
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50
SPRING LIVE AUCTION | MODERN INDIAN ART
11 MARCH 2021
Estimate
Rs 18,00,000 - 24,00,000
$25,000 - 33,335
Winning Bid
Rs 19,20,000
$26,667
(Inclusive of Buyer's Premium)
ARTWORK DETAILS
F N Souza
Christ in Blue
Signed and dated 'Souza 68' (upper left)
1968
Mixed media on paper pasted on paper
16 x 20 in (40.7 x 50.5 cm)
PROVENANCE Kumar Gallery, New Delhi
EXHIBITEDFrancis Newton Souza: Retrospective II , New Delhi: Kumar Gallery, 9 - 21 October 2000 A Tribute to Francis Newton Souza: Selected Works from 60s to 90s , New Delhi: Kumar Gallery, 14 January - 15 February 2005Celebration 2016: Kumar Gallery, Sixty Years (1955 - 2015) , New Delhi: Kumar Gallery, 25 January - 5 February 2016 PUBLISHEDFrancis Newton Souza: Retrospective II , New Delhi: Kumar Gallery, 2000 (illustrated)A Tribute to Francis Newton Souza: Selected Works from 60s to 90s , New Delhi: Kumar Gallery, 2005 (illustrated)Celebration 2016: Kumar Gallery, Sixty Years (1955 - 2015) , New Delhi: Kumar Gallery, 2016 (illustrated)
Category: Painting
Style: Figurative
ARTWORK SIZE:
Height of Figure: 6'