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lot 35

lot 35

Francis Newton Souza

La Place Town Square

oil on board
24 x 30 in. (61 x 76.2 cm.)
painted in 1955

Winning Bid: $ 220,000

Estimate: US$ 150,000 - 250,000

Lot Closed

Lot Details

Signed and dated 'Souza 55' (upper right)

PROVENANCE
Grosvenor Gallery, London
Private collection, Mumbai
Saffronart / Lot 66 / Live Auction: Modern Evening Sale / 15 February 2014 / Mumbai

EXHIBITED AND PUBLISHED
F.N. Souza, Saffronart and Grosvenor Gallery, New York and London, 2008

One of India's greatest modernists, Francis Newton Souza catapulted to fame in post-war London in the 1950s. The present lot, painted in 1955, belongs to this iconic period of the artist's career expressing his feelings and anxieties of the postwar era and reflecting on his own personal anguish.

The subject matter of La Place Town Square, is rather traditional compared to Souza's other works, it is a typical French town with rustic buildings and a well depicted in an earthy palette. With hints of cubism and thick dark outlines, the hallmark of his work in this period, the houses appeared boxy while the well in the forefront gives the picture a sense of depth. The barren tree with spines for leaves depicted alongside uninviting windowless houses creates an atmosphere that is desolate, cold and unwelcoming reflecting perhaps the initial reaction to his works when he arrived in London a few years before. Looming above the townscape is Souza's signature rendering of the sky, brooding and stormy conveying a sense of gloom.

"The graphic power of Souza's lines produces simplified and bold images, while the thick oil paints applied liberally to the board or canvas, with swift strokes, give his work a sense of vitality and movement...Cityscapes, constructed from fragmented images and memories, are also important subjects and perhaps suggestive of Souza's cosmopolitan life and frequent traveling." (FN Souza: Icons of a Modern World, All Too Human, Tate London, 28 February - 27 August 2018, Exhibition Catalogue, p. 20)

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.