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Lot 10

 

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This powerful work depicts a moment from the trail of Jesus Christ by the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, with Christ’s mortality frozen in the balance. Rendered in earthy umbers and browns with a palette knife and brush, the profile of Christ seems to be almost carved out of the impasto relief, his single empty eye stretched wide, while his matted hair recedes into the mid-browns of the board. In contrast, Pilate’s profile is shadowy... This powerful work depicts a moment from the trail of Jesus Christ by the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, with Christ’s mortality frozen in the balance. Rendered in earthy umbers and browns with a palette knife and brush, the profile of Christ seems to be almost carved out of the impasto relief, his single empty eye stretched wide, while his matted hair recedes into the mid-browns of the board. In contrast, Pilate’s profile is shadowy and almost part of the background. The scene is arresting. The negative space created between the two men emphasises the tense moment they share, and the potency of what is to come.

As Ebrahim Alkazi stated “Souza is fundamentally a religious artist, not in the narrow definition of dogma and institutionalised belief, but in the sense of a profound search for the meaning and purpose of human existence. It is through his art that he pursues that quest, as the ascetic does through meditation” (F.N. Souza: Retrospective, Shridharani Gallery exhibition catalogue, 1987, not paginated).

Alkazi goes on to explain Souza’s intense and internalised relationship with Christ (in spite of Souza’s position as a kind of atheist fundamentalist), saying, “It is as if he seeks to exculpate sinful acts by summoning up visions of the mortification and despair of the Son of God, to the extent of identifying himself with Him” (Ibid.).

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