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lot 17

lot 17

Francis Newton Souza

Untitled

chemical alterations on paper
7.25 x 5 in. (18.5 x 12.9 cm.)
executed in 1971

Bought-In

Estimate: US$ 8,000 - 12,000

Lot Closed

Lot Details

Signed and dated 'Souza 1971' (lower left)

PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the artist

PUBLISHED
Vinod Bhardwaj, Francis Newton Souza: Dhoomimal Gallery Collection, Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi, p. 176 (illustrated)

The present lot is an example of F.N. Souza’s particular brand of still-life, shown here with a pipe and other everyday objects using a technique of image manipulation he called chemical alteration.

The technique involved drawing or painting over torn pages from colored magazines, catalogs, newspapers, and printed photographs which have been chemically blurred out or brushed out. Souza would scribble over these partly bleached out pictures and connect his drawings with the existing image to make it cohesive. Interestingly, he started on these experiments only after he reached New York in 1967.

Francis Newton Souza

(1924 - 2002)
Born in 1924 in Saligao, Goa, Souza was expelled from the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, in 1942 for taking part in the ‘Quit India’ freedom movement. He went on to found the Progressive Artist’s Group in 1948, before leaving for London a year later. In 1955 Souza held a one-man show at Gallery One in London and also had his autobiographical essay ‘Nirvana of a Maggot’ published. He was awarded the John Moore Prize at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool in 1957 and received an Italian Government Scholarship in 1960. In 1959 a collection of his autobiographical essays, ‘Words and Lines’, was published, and in 1962 a monograph on his work by Edwin Mullins was published as well. In 1967 Souza migrated to New York where he received the Guggenheim International Award. Two retrospectives of his work were organized by Art Heritage, New Delhi, in 1986 and 1996. Souza also participated in a work-live programme in Los Angeles, hosted by Saffronart in 2001. Souza passed away in Mumbai 2002. Some important posthumous exhibition of his work include, ‘F.N. Souza’ at Saffronart and Grosvenor Gallery, New York, in 2008; ‘F.N. Souza: Religion & Erotica’ at Tate Britain, London, in 2005-06; ‘Self-Portrait: Renaissance to Contemporary’ at the National Portrait Gallery, London, in 2005; and ‘Francis Newton Souza’ at Saffronart and Grosvenor Gallery, New York and London, in 2005.