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Lot 46

 

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“An artist paints solely for himself. I have made my art a metabolism. I express myself freely in paint in order to exist. I paint what I want, what I like, what I feel.”
- F N SOUZA

Souza’s career-defining move to London in 1949 came with the promise of unprecedented opportunity, although his initial years were shadowed by a looming sense of uncertainty. However, in 1955, the artist’s one man show at Gallery One in London and... “An artist paints solely for himself. I have made my art a metabolism. I express myself freely in paint in order to exist. I paint what I want, what I like, what I feel.”
- F N SOUZA

Souza’s career-defining move to London in 1949 came with the promise of unprecedented opportunity, although his initial years were shadowed by a looming sense of uncertainty. However, in 1955, the artist’s one man show at Gallery One in London and his autobiographical essay, Nirvana of a Maggot, proved that he was a force to be reckoned with. As Geeta Kapur explains, Souza “was the first Indian artist to become something of a sensation in the West. For that matter, even among his western contemporaries he stood pretty high on the ladder of success, and it goes without saying that he deserved it.” (Geeta Kapur, “Francis Newton Souza: Devil in the Flesh,” Contemporary Indian Artists, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1978, p. 11)

Souza’s unrestrained and graphic artistic vocabulary, combined with his articulate writing, ushered in works that were deeply rooted in self-reflection. His approach to his writing however, was fuelled with self-deprecation. As he explains in Nirvana of a Maggot, “…whenever I write, I get a feeling of incompetence. Not so when I paint, for then I feel I am the master of the situation. Words, however, to me are very elusive little things and they fail me. Nevertheless, there’s an urge to express myself with them.”

Within the same context, Souza christens himself a “blooming maggot”, feeding the idea of metamorphism, wherein the artist is in a constant state of flux. This evolution is one that manifests through Souza’s works as well – never tethered by a medium, with one idea creating a path for the next. The present lot, an oil and graphite on paper work, features a spindly insect with bright wings. The vibrant colours of the creature’s wings, combined with the artist’s penchant for bold linework and obsession with identity, draws the viewer in, beckoning them to observe a subject that might otherwise be deemed as unsavoury. The present lot, as with many of his works created during this period, is an ode to Souza’s exceptional draughtsmanship, with his dexterity and command of line often compared to that of Picasso and Matisse.

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