Page 74 - Pundole's Auction M0015

34

PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN

FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA

1924?–?2002

Untitled

Gouache on paper pasted on board
1950
21¾ × 15 in. (55.3 × 38.1 cm.)
Signed and dated ‘Souza / 1950’ upper right

??8,00,000?–12,00,000

$ 11,940?–17,910

PROVENANCE:
Formerly in the collection of Julian Hartnoll, Souza’s gallerist
in London for many years.

In 1947 M. F. Husain and F. N. Souza travelled to New Delhi
to visit the India Independence Exhibition at Rashtrapati
Bhavan. The classical sculptures of ancient India had a
huge impact upon the two artists, and offered for both
of them a visual vocabulary that was different from the
Greco-Roman representation of the human form, that
had influenced so much of Western Art. For Souza, the
impact of the exhibition was apparent in his drawings and
paintings of the years immediately following the trip. Both
the current and preceding lot show the direct influence of
classical Indian sculpture in his work. The figures appear to
be ‘Souzaesque’ versions of early yakshi figures possibly
inspired by the carvings at Mathura, or apsara figures from
Khajuraho.

Mullins states ‘Souza made a passionate study of Indian
art, and was particularly moved by the South Indian bronzes
–with their symbolism and their astonishing feeling for
movement, and by the sublimely erotic carvings on the
temples of Khajuraho. Both of these made a lasting
impression on him, and were largely responsible for
awakening the imagination of the young painter.’ (Edwin
Mullins, Souza, London, 1962, p.?16)

72