Important Notice

Souza's portraits and paintings of heads underwent gradual transformations over time, from the cross-hatching technique that became the hallmark of his early works, to the loops, whorls and squiggles which animated the distorted visages of his subjects. His technique demonstrates his versatility as a draughtsman, while offering a scathing commentary on what he saw as the hypocrisy of society, especially the clergy and members of the elite. In... Souza's portraits and paintings of heads underwent gradual transformations over time, from the cross-hatching technique that became the hallmark of his early works, to the loops, whorls and squiggles which animated the distorted visages of his subjects. His technique demonstrates his versatility as a draughtsman, while offering a scathing commentary on what he saw as the hypocrisy of society, especially the clergy and members of the elite. In the present lot, Souza uses his trademark bold, sinewy lines, and bright colours. The circular forms where the eyes and mouth should be, resemble pockmarks which had begun to appear in his works during the 1960s.

By the early 1960s, Souza had gained widespread recognition in England for his writing and art. He had held a number of successful one-man shows at Gallery One in London. Organised by Victor Musgrave, they propelled Souza's career as an artist. The present lot was made in the same year that Souza held his most impressive one-man show at the gallery's new premises in North Audley Street. Writing about his paintings of heads, critic Andrew Forge observed that "Somewhere behind any serious portrait painting there is a wish to gain command of a person... But in Souza you can see the real thing operating, you can see him closing in on his images as though they could save his life, or backing away from them as though they could kill him. Souza himself has said that he has made of his art 'a metabolism. I express myself freely in paint in order to exist.'" (Andrew Forge, "Round the London Galleries," The Listener, 28 November 1957)

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