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Lot 11

 

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In his monograph on F.N. Souza, Edwin Mullins notes that the artist's landscapes "…are often distorted to the point of destruction - houses no more than lopsided cubes…But they never threaten to dissolve into formalized abstract shapes. The violence and speed with which they are executed keep these images, however distorted, in touch with the painter's vision of what they really are" (Edwin Mullins, Souza, Anthony Blond Ltd., London, 1962, p.... In his monograph on F.N. Souza, Edwin Mullins notes that the artist's landscapes "…are often distorted to the point of destruction - houses no more than lopsided cubes…But they never threaten to dissolve into formalized abstract shapes. The violence and speed with which they are executed keep these images, however distorted, in touch with the painter's vision of what they really are" (Edwin Mullins, Souza, Anthony Blond Ltd., London, 1962, p. 36, 38).

In the present lot, however, the fury and instability that Mullins describes is replaced with a terrifying calm; rather than an apocalyptic force, the composition is governed by an eerie stillness. The artist's palette, typically vibrant, is almost monochromatic here, dominated by shades of midnight blue and black. One of Souza's depictions of London, a city he became more sympathetic towards following his eventual artistic recognition and success there in the mid 1950s, this landscape's unusual verticality and controlled palette underline its dark and disconcerting atmosphere.

The thick lines that etch the buildings out from the night sky and buffer them from its advancing shadows are a trademark of Souza's work from the period. "Of the pictorial elements it is decidedly the line which is the most developed part of Souza's vocabulary. Whether it is ornamental or abrupt, lyrical or diabolic, Souza's line is derived from Picasso; from Picasso's unmatched virtuosity in delineating an object or figure with sheer element of line… His paintings are really drawn in paint, the line predominating over all other elements and serving to outline, encase and define an image; serving also to provide tonal variations… and to give the painting a structural and surface unity" (Geeta Kapur, "Devil in the Flesh", Contemporary Indian Artists, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1978, p. 56, 57).

This painting was first offered for sale in Cape Town in 1958, a year after it was painted, at an auction in aid of the Treason Trial Defence Fund. Donated to the auction by Souza, the present lot represents the artist's strong commitment to freedom of expression, and to the 156 individuals, including several Indians, who were charged with high treason and faced the death penalty in South Africa for voicing their opposition to the Apartheid regime there. Dubbed a "challenge to civilized humanity", the 1958 auction aimed to raise 20,000 pounds for the legal defence of the accused, to aid the dependents of the arrested, and to "help ensure that the conscience of the world is kept alive to the issues at stake".

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