Important Notice

“Why should I be sparse and parsimonious when not only this world but worlds in space are open to me? I have everything to use at my disposal.” – F N SOUZA

The 1960s saw a drastic shift in F N Souza’s landscapes as they started to embody the same sense of conflict and unease that characterised his figurative works. As a result, his landscapes were either mute and bleak, or were “driven by a cataclysmic force, which wreaks havoc.... “Why should I be sparse and parsimonious when not only this world but worlds in space are open to me? I have everything to use at my disposal.” – F N SOUZA

The 1960s saw a drastic shift in F N Souza’s landscapes as they started to embody the same sense of conflict and unease that characterised his figurative works. As a result, his landscapes were either mute and bleak, or were “driven by a cataclysmic force, which wreaks havoc. Most of these are cityscapes following, at first, a simple rectilinear structure, which later, in the 1960s, gives way to an apocalyptic vision. The tumbling houses in their frenzied movement are also symbolic of all things falling apart, of the very root of things being shaken, of a world of the holocaust and thalidomide babies...of nature gone awry, of a demonic force behind the appearance of things.” (Yashodhara Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 93)

The present lot, painted almost entirely in a deep red colour, is characteristic of Souza’s work in the early 1960s as his heavier impasto technique shifted to a flatter application of colour, but retained his characteristic bold black strokes. It also highlights Souza’s gradual evolution from the structured compositions of the landscapes from the previous decade.

The houses in this painting are not entirely distorted with the furious brushstrokes that he used in the creation of his later works, but instead follow a misleadingly simple box-like structure. Souza’s thick black outlines and expertly controlled use of the colour red come together to infuse the work in its entirety with a sense of discovery for the viewer.

The thick lines drawn by Souza’s paintbrush in the present lot are perhaps inspired by the work of Chaim Soutine and Georges Rouault, or by the stained-glass windows of the churches Souza had visited as a child in Goa, and etch out the forms of geometric houses and trees against the red background. “Around 1960... Souza’s landscapes begin to change drastically. A huge cracker seems to go off in the foundations of his cities and the buildings begin to sway and tumble and lean against each other in frantic postures.” (Geeta Kapur, “Devil in the Flesh,” Contemporary Indian Artists, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 1978, p. 30)

In a Times of India article published in 1989, Souza spoke in detail on the distinct language for landscape painting that was developed by him and his peers. It provides context for the present lot, and other works from this period, and also explains how Indian artists were seeking their own individual identities during the 1950s and ‘60s. “We can now look back and be surprised at how those of us from the Progressive Artists’ Group, Raza, Gade and myself, completely broke away from the wishy-washy 19th century English watercolourists, an influence which prevailed in Bombay even in the 1940s, and came into our own individual styles; our landscapes were not only very different from those of British painters like Turner and Constable, we were, although we were very modern, different from the French impressionists. We were bold and full of fire. Our landscapes were full of brilliant colours!” (F N Souza, “Red Trees, Black Skies,” The Times of India, 4 June 1989, p. 4)

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