Important Notice

"Renaissance painters painted men and women making them look like angels. I paint for angels, to show them what men and women really look like." - F N SOUZA

F N Souza continued to return to the female nude consistently over the course of his long artistic career. One of the reasons for this, according to art historian Edwin Mullins, was to flout existing moral conventions. Souza’s art stood in violent opposition to the... "Renaissance painters painted men and women making them look like angels. I paint for angels, to show them what men and women really look like." - F N SOUZA

F N Souza continued to return to the female nude consistently over the course of his long artistic career. One of the reasons for this, according to art historian Edwin Mullins, was to flout existing moral conventions. Souza’s art stood in violent opposition to the self-righteous values of the Roman Catholic Church - an environment he grew up in during his childhood in Goa. Souza had also studied art in British India, where the puritanical Victorian values borrowed and adopted by his fellow countrymen rankled against his aesthetic sensibilities far more. Instead, he discovered "a tradition of erotic art incomparably more sensitive and pure" in classical Indian art that resonated deeply with him. (Edwin Mullins, F N Souza, London: Anthony Blond Ltd., 1962, p. 44)

"Classical Indian art, and the temples of Khajuraho, with their erotic carvings of temple dancers were a great source of inspiration to Souza. The female nude of this painting, adorned with a necklace and bangles could indeed be such a temple dancer. However, like many of Souza's works there is evidence of more than one influence playing role in his craft. His use of bright strong bands of colour and tubular shapes remind us more of a work of Fernand Leger, whilst her Roman nose is that of a Greek sculpture." (Francis Newton Souza, New York: Saffronart and London: Grosvenor Gallery, 2005, p. 18)

This is evident in the “full breasted female form” of the present lot that was painted during what is considered to be an often overlooked but highly important period in Souza’s life. (Souza in the 40s, Mumbai: Saffronart, 2018, p. 27)

Painted in 1945, when Souza was still on the cusp of artistic recognition, the present lot demonstrates the influence the high, taut forms of ancient sculptures had on the artist, particularly during his early works. "It is not surprising to see that women are the all-consuming passion in Souza's works. Unlike his ghoulish heads, Souza's sexual motifs are strangely unilateral and singular. His earliest women were iconic figures, stiffly bounded by thick black lines rather like powerful mother goddesses... His women flamboyantly display their sexuality, sometimes with their feet astride, defying convention... The fixed frontal poses of Souza's earlier nudes were charged with an energy that pulsated on the flat surface.” (Yashodhara Dalmia, "A Passion for the Human Figure," The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 91-92)

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