Important Notice

Following a difficult period in England, Souza received his first break in 1955, when Victor Musgrave, who owned Gallery One, offered to hold a solo exhibition of his works. The exhibition was a huge success, and he received accolades from numerous critics. He went on to win a number of awards and exhibited all around the world. In the year the present work was made, Souza held a highly successful solo exhibition at Gallery One's new premises on... Following a difficult period in England, Souza received his first break in 1955, when Victor Musgrave, who owned Gallery One, offered to hold a solo exhibition of his works. The exhibition was a huge success, and he received accolades from numerous critics. He went on to win a number of awards and exhibited all around the world. In the year the present work was made, Souza held a highly successful solo exhibition at Gallery One's new premises on D'Arblay Street, and was awarded a prize in the Junior Section of the John Moores Liverpool exhibition. The fame and acclaim, however, did not soften or alter the artist's style and vision.

In this work, Souza's judicious use of line shows his versatility. The structures have rigid lines whereas in contrast the figure has slashes of small strokes delineating the man. "Souza is not in the least a romantic painter; nor is there a glimmer of romanticism in his attitude to his profession….[he] is a painter with a powerful and strange personal vision. His paintings are neither primitive nor 'cultured'. They either move you by their stark interpretation of the visual world, or they repel you. They do not reach out into the metaphysical unknown, or suggest the fascination of primeval forces…. He is an image-maker and not an aesthete or a theorist." (Edwin Mullins, Souza, Anthony Blond Ltd., London, 1962, pgs. 30, 33).

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