Important Notice

Lot 74

Souza`s relationships with sex and the female form were complex and long lasting, and had profound consequence on his work. As a child, the artist watched his mother bathe through a hole in the bathroom door, drawing her nude form on the wall. Shortly after, he was expelled from his Jesuit high school for the `pornographic` drawings he decorated its restrooms with. Undiscouraged by the adverse reactions his work drew, Souza continued to express... Souza`s relationships with sex and the female form were complex and long lasting, and had profound consequence on his work. As a child, the artist watched his mother bathe through a hole in the bathroom door, drawing her nude form on the wall. Shortly after, he was expelled from his Jesuit high school for the `pornographic` drawings he decorated its restrooms with. Undiscouraged by the adverse reactions his work drew, Souza continued to express his love and fear of sex, the original sin through his art. From his early statuesque portraits of tribal women to later distorted images of women explicitly displaying their sexuality, Souza`s powerful female nudes thus inspire both passion and dread.

The artist`s treatment of the female nude and the erotic, however, varied immensely, particularly in his canvases from the early 1960s. Still, whether demure or unforgiving, iconic or grotesque, these majestic portraits, with their bold black lines and thick brushstrokes, never fail to stun the viewer. This canvas, painted the same year that Edwin Mullins published a monograph on Souza, is a monumental portrait whose surface throbs with an undeniable sexual energy.

“Nude Queen is a fertility icon, but her idiosyncrasies are not flattering. The compressed torso and unnaturally distanced legs draw attention to the pubic area, drawn like feather-tailed arrows pointing to the target. The queen invites sex. Extra-long fingers (seven on one hand, six on the other) rest on her stomach, reminiscent of the Venus of Willendorf, the most ancient of all fertility figures. This fertility queen, unlike the faceless antique predecessor, has features and jewelry – necklace, bracelets and finger rings – like an Indian yakshi. Her breasts, however, have extra nipples. The disturbing abnormalities and crass presentation reveal the unsavory side of nature and a dark side of the artist`s nature as well” (Marcella C. Sirhandi, India: Contemporary Art from Northeastern Private Collections, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, 2002, p. 114).

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