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Lot 69

In this unusual townscape from the late 1950’s, Souza plays with light and shade in a comment on the dual or Janus-faced nature of all things, even those as benign as buildings. Though their location in time is exactly the same, the two parts of this oil on board seem as different as night and day. While the building in the foreground is forebodingly dark and unwelcoming – even its windows are blacked out – those in the background, which it is... In this unusual townscape from the late 1950’s, Souza plays with light and shade in a comment on the dual or Janus-faced nature of all things, even those as benign as buildings. Though their location in time is exactly the same, the two parts of this oil on board seem as different as night and day. While the building in the foreground is forebodingly dark and unwelcoming – even its windows are blacked out – those in the background, which it is so clearly divided from, are bright and convivial, almost inviting people to walk up the grassy path that leads to them. A Cathedral-like structure with a steeple reaching into the bright blue of the sky also beckons viewers away from the shade to its warmth.

One of his earlier landscapes, the houses in this painting are not distorted with the furious brushstrokes that he used in the creation of his later ones, but instead follow a misleadingly simple box-like structure. Souza’s thick black outlines and expertly controlled use of color, which illuminates the two parts of this piece so differently, come together to infuse the work in its entirety with a sense of discovery for the viewer.

As the critic Anthony Ludwig put it, “The landscapes, architectonic with their ‘cubic factors’ are ultimately lyrical. There’s an unrestrained enthusiasm, a liberty in the application of color that is swiftly applied with a palette knife, creating smooth pulsating textures.” (Anthony Ludwig, Souza – Dhoomimal Gallery,).

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