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Lot 61

 

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Painted by Souza in 1961, the present lot suggests a subversion of the iconic painting, Venus of Urbino by Italian Renaissance artist Titian. Titian's 1538 Renaissance painting depicts the Roman Goddess Venus reclining on a plush bed in a luxurious palace, with attendants in the background. Souza retains every element of Titian's work down to the smallest detail-the sheets and pillows on the bed, the attendants in the background, the... Painted by Souza in 1961, the present lot suggests a subversion of the iconic painting, Venus of Urbino by Italian Renaissance artist Titian. Titian's 1538 Renaissance painting depicts the Roman Goddess Venus reclining on a plush bed in a luxurious palace, with attendants in the background. Souza retains every element of Titian's work down to the smallest detail-the sheets and pillows on the bed, the attendants in the background, the tapestry on the wall, the figure's pose and hairstyle, the bracelet on the arm, the curled-up dog on the bed-and yet, Souza's work is nothing like Titian's Venus. Souza deliberately strips away the sensuality and realism of Titian's work, choosing rather, to portray his subject in stark lines, with minimal detail.

Souza's painting has more in common with the 19th century Impressionist artist Edouard Manet's rendition of the same subject. Manet's Olympia, painted in 1863, was considered confrontational and shocking for its time. It had none of the divine allusions of Titian's work, and several indicators in the painting suggested that the female nude was a prostitute-a subject that often recurred in Souza's works. One of the reasons Souza produced nudes, according to art historian Edwin Mullins, was to flout moral conventions. His art stood in violent opposition to the self-righteous values of the Roman Catholic Church-an environment he grew up in during his childhood in Goa. Souza had also studied art in British India, where the puritanical Victorian values borrowed and adopted by his fellow countrymen rankled against his aesthetic sensibilities far more. Souza had discovered in classical Indian art, particularly Khajuraho sculptures, "a tradition of erotic art incomparably more sensitive and pure" than the academic art taught in Bombay. (Edwin Mullins, F N Souza, London: Anthony Blond Ltd., 1962, p. 44)

"There are the huge, fleshy nudes who sprawl over his canvases. These are not really erotic paintings in the true sense, but variations of a conventional theme explored by European artists... His nudes are only occasionally painted as beautiful or even as graceful...On the whole his paintings of nudes are more gentle that most of his other work; they have less impassioned ferocity about them. At the same time they are often the most perverse and obsessed... They suggest a personal fascination with the female body..." (Mullins, pp. 42-43)

The present lot forms a connection between the European art tradition and Souza's personal life. He is able to manifest his own distinct personality on a subject that has been variously interpreted by Western artists over time.

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