Francis Newton Souza (India, 1924-2002)
Untitled (Portrait of Man)
Signed 'Souza' and dated '1955' lower right
Pen and ink wash on paper
32 x 24cm full sheet
25 x 19cm within mount
Framed and glazed

Souza was born in Saligao, Goa, and brought up in Mumbai. He was resilient and unconventional as a young man and was expelled from the Sir JJ School of Art in Mumbai for participating in the Quit India movement. In 1947, he founded the Progressive Artists’ Group which created a space for the artists to talk about the common problems and initiate the development of the new national art in India. Here, he was accompanied by S.H. Raza, M.F. Husain, K.H. Ara, S.K. Bakre, and H.A. Gade.

The Progressive Artists’ Group largely disbanded after Souza moved to London in 1949 where he started working on line drawings and a series of ‘black paintings’ in the 1950s and 60s, which he is most famous for. He covered subjects of still life, landscapes, nudes, and icons of Christianity which were rendered distorted. His use of rich lines expressed his refusal of the conventional notions of art and everyday life. His works reflect the native Folk art of Goa, the Renaissance style, the religious art of the catholic church, the landscaping of 18^th and 19^th century Europe, and the major Western modern artists like Picasso.

This portrait was made and signed by Souza in the year 1955. This was the year he received his major breakthrough when Victor Musgrave’s Gallery One began to represent him in London. The work is brought together with three layers; pencil, pen, and ink. It portrays a man in Souza’s iconic distortion style with repetitive lines that give a sense of depth and darkness to the artwork.

Provenance: Private U.K. Collection, acquired as a gift in 2002. From an esteemed U.K. trade collector.