Important Notice

Painted in 1950 - when Souza had just moved to England and was on the cusp of artistic recognition - the present lot demonstrates the influence of classical Indian sculptures on his early work. Ever the rebel, Souza's aim in creating such paintings was to flout moral conventions and the puritanical values of the church and the art education that he had been exposed to. Souza had discovered in classical Indian art, particularly Khajuraho... Painted in 1950 - when Souza had just moved to England and was on the cusp of artistic recognition - the present lot demonstrates the influence of classical Indian sculptures on his early work. Ever the rebel, Souza's aim in creating such paintings was to flout moral conventions and the puritanical values of the church and the art education that he had been exposed to. Souza had discovered in classical Indian art, particularly Khajuraho sculptures, "a tradition of erotic art incomparably more sensitive and pure" than the academic art taught in Bombay. (Edwin Mullins, F N Souza, London: Anthony Blond Ltd., 1962, p. 44) According to art historian Yashodhara Dalmia, "It is not surprising to see that women are the all-consuming passion in Souza's works. His earliest women were iconic figures, stiffly bounded by thick black lines rather like powerful mother goddesses... The fixed frontal poses of Souza's earlier nudes were charged with an energy that pulsated on the flat surface." ("A Passion for the Human Figure," The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 91)

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