Important Notice

Lot 111

This piece stands out on stylistic grounds, instead of the thick, aggressive brushstrokes Souza’s work is most often associated with, this gouache has been carefully composed with thin lines and bright colors that have been meticulously filled into the spaces between them. And even though his characteristic disfiguration of the subject’s face remains, it is more geometric, even organized, where eyes, nose, teeth and ears are all easily... This piece stands out on stylistic grounds, instead of the thick, aggressive brushstrokes Souza’s work is most often associated with, this gouache has been carefully composed with thin lines and bright colors that have been meticulously filled into the spaces between them. And even though his characteristic disfiguration of the subject’s face remains, it is more geometric, even organized, where eyes, nose, teeth and ears are all easily discerned. Mullins in his books has aptly described this, “Figurative art presents no problems for Souza because he has succeeded in creating images which are entirely personal, yet recognizable at the same time. They are often distorted to the point of destruction – houses no more than lopsided cubes grotesque faces with eyes anywhere and in any number (I have never counted the number of teeth I have drawn in grinning mouths. So what of a few extra eyes…’). But they never threaten to dissolve into formalized abstract shapes. The violence and speed with which they are executed keep these images, however distorted, in touch with the painter’s vision of what they really are. George Butcher, writing in The Studio for November 1961, has called him a figurative action painter; and there could be no better description.” ( FN Souza, Edwin Mullins, Anthony Blond Ltd., 1962)

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