F N Souza
(1924 - 2002)
Temple Dancer
The present lot, Temple Dancer , painted during one of the most successful periods of Souza's career - London in the 1950s - demonstrates Souza's refined technique with figuration. Souza leaves the visage free of his trademark crosshatching technique, or any form of distortion, but adopts the classic stare reminiscent of paintings seen in Spanish Romanesque art. The demure pose, contrasting with the fierce expression, bears a sculpturesque...
The present lot, Temple Dancer , painted during one of the most successful periods of Souza's career - London in the 1950s - demonstrates Souza's refined technique with figuration. Souza leaves the visage free of his trademark crosshatching technique, or any form of distortion, but adopts the classic stare reminiscent of paintings seen in Spanish Romanesque art. The demure pose, contrasting with the fierce expression, bears a sculpturesque rigidity that reflects the influence of classical Indian art in Souza's work. "...the first works of art which inspired Souza were the South Indian bronzes and the high relief carvings on the Khajuraho temples... Souza's art has undoubtedly been greatly influenced by both of these - especially by Khajuraho, those 'mighty temples and pillars and many a carved figure of girls wearing nothing but smiles more enigmatic than even Mona Lisa could manage', as Souza described them... The emphasis of the definitive line to trace the twist and movement of the human body; the impersonal, ritual treatment of sensuality; the tendency to stylise objects so that they become stripped of incidental detail; and the intuitive understanding of how to treat a virtually flat surface in order to create the effect, not of depth, but of movement; these are all important components in Souza's paintings and they stem more or less directly from classical Indian art." (Edwin Mullins, Souza, London: Anthony Blond Ltd., 1962, p. 38)
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Lot
75
of
87
EVENING SALE | NEW DELHI, LIVE
8 SEPTEMBER 2016
Estimate
Rs 1,80,00,000 - 2,40,00,000
$272,730 - 363,640
ARTWORK DETAILS
F N Souza
Temple Dancer
Signed and dated 'Souza 57' (upper left); inscribed and dated 'F. N. SOUZA / TEMPLE DANCER - 1957' (on the reverse)
1957
Oil on board
47.75 x 23.75 in (121.2 x 60.2 cm)
PROVENANCE: Christie's, New York, 30 March 2006, lot 32 Private Collection, New Delhi
EXHIBITED:Mumbai Modern: Progressive Artists Group 1947 - 2013 , Mumbai: Delhi Art Gallery, 26 October - 31 December 2013 PUBLISHED: Kishore Singh ed., Continuum: Progressive Artists' Group , New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery, 2011, p. 246 (illustrated) Kishore Singh ed., Mumbai Modern: Progressive Artists Group 1947 - 2013 , New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery, 2013, p. 291 (illustrated) Kishore Singh ed., The Naked and the Nude: The Body in Indian Modern Art - Edition Two , New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery, 2013, p. 119 (illustrated) Kishore Singh ed., A Visual History of Indian Modern Art, Volume V: Rise of Modernism , New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery, 2015, p. 1003 (illustrated)
Category: Painting
Style: Figurative
ARTWORK SIZE:
Height of Figure: 6'