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Lot 13

 

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The present lot, painted almost entirely in a fiery red colour, embodies the apocalyptic vision that dominated Souza's landscapes from the 1960s. A gradual evolution from the structured compositions of the landscapes from the previous decade, these works are defined by fluid, irregular brushstrokes that project the appearance of a calamitous force of nature about to hit the earth. In works such as this 1964 painting, the unrelenting... The present lot, painted almost entirely in a fiery red colour, embodies the apocalyptic vision that dominated Souza's landscapes from the 1960s. A gradual evolution from the structured compositions of the landscapes from the previous decade, these works are defined by fluid, irregular brushstrokes that project the appearance of a calamitous force of nature about to hit the earth. In works such as this 1964 painting, the unrelenting monochromatic red palette creates an unsettling, incendiary atmosphere; it appears as though the tightly packed structures and the surrounding foliage are set ablaze. Houses and steeples of churches lean precariously, on the verge of tumbling down.

Souza's landscapes of the 1960s reflected both, the post-war gloom of Britain, and the mounting tension between nations in the aftermath of the war. Yashodhara Dalmia writes that these works "seem to be driven by a cataclysmic force, which wreaks havoc... The tumbling houses in their frenzied movement are also symbolic of all things falling apart, of the very root of things being shaken..." (Yashodhara Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: Progressives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 93) Through Hampstead Terraces, which is likely based on a view of Hampstead Park, Souza subverts the conventional image of this charming, affluent neighbourhood into one of chaos, using crisp black lines and a confident handling of structures to explore the political and social unease prevalent during that time.

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