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We are deeply honoured to unveil an uprecedented sale of works of art from the Estate of Francis Newton Souza. Never before has a monographic sale of this nature been conducted with a carefully considered selection of works spanning an artist's entire career, as part of the final dispersal of the Estate. Dating from 1935 through 1999, spanning his time in India, London and New York, Souza held on to these works his entire life. The broad scope sheds new light on all aspects of his oeuvre and the variety of artistic media. We are grateful to the Estate for granting us unprecedented access, including to his diaries and writings. Equally gifted as a writer, Souza's candid words show an artist deeply reflective of his art, conscious of his position. Truly a master of line and words, he is equally succinct and on the mark in both worlds, as the excerpts will show. Thus the catalogue seeks to tell a story, through the works and words of the artist. It represents a fresh view, encapsulating the life and evolution of F.N. Souza, including works exhibited at the Tate retrospective alongside many pieces that were previously unpublished. Souza embarked on his artistic career at the Sir J.J. School of Art in Bombay where he enrolled in 1940 at the age of 16. In the year of India's Independence, the young artist joined forces with a handful of likeminded friends to form the Progressive Artists Group in 1947. They sought a powerful new artistic movement, as he expressed in the group's manifesto. Rejecting Academic traditions, they were mindful of their heritage and open to new modernist tendencies from the West. In Souza's own words, "a new era of Indian Art was born." The next turning point for Souza was in London in 1954 when he became close to author Stephen Spender, who helped with introductions in the art world. The following year, Victor Musgrave's Gallery One held Souza's first solo exhibition in Britain. It was a triumph. He was good friends with Francis Bacon - until Souza radically stopped drinking in 1960. Edwin Mullins wrote the important monograph in 1962. The exciting final chapter started in New York in 1967, where he immediately embarked on new artistic expressions and techniques. He was dazzled by Manhattan and America. I was personally bedazzled when we went through the process of viewing and selecting the works in hand. Looking at the stacks of drawings laid out, there was so much energy, so much sheer artistry jumping off the page and up in the air, a sense of shock and awe. I forever marvel at the mastery and facility of his line. The works on canvas and masonite have a freshness and immediacy about them that is so pristine - and enthrallingly powerful. There is some justification in calling Souza the "Picasso of India" and I invite you to discover his work anew on the following pages. This sale represents a unique chance for collectors at all levels to acquire a piece by Souza's hand, as well as a piece of history. I am convinced that in years to come we will look back at this event as a milestone for the field, when Souza might well have reached the levels of recognition of his Spanish nemesis and inspiration. Stronger than ever, his vocation will be seen and heard. Hugo Weihe International Director Asian Art

FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA (1924-2002)

Untitled (Village Scene in Goa)

Details

FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA (1924-2002)
Untitled (Village Scene in Goa)
signed 'NEWTON' (lower right); further signed and dated 'Souza 1945' (on the reverse)
gouache, ink and graphite on paper
10 3/8 x 14 7/8 in. (26.5 x 38 cm.)
Executed in 1945

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Lot Essay

"I attended the JJ School of Art in Bombay. I was 16 years old. I didn't get the diploma. Within five years, I was expelled for political reasons during the Quit India movement. The director of the school of art was British.
So I went to Goa and painted. Pictures of peasants tolling in the fields, fisherfolk, priests, Goan women, landscapes. I was amazed to see seeds grow out of the soil, forming beautiful shoots, leaves, buds, flowers! During the monsoon the skies where thick grey, massive clouds rolled, clashing against each other, causing zigzags of electric lightning followed by crashing thunder! Apparently, the lightning puts nitrates and other chemicals in the soil! There's no cause without effect. Wondrous nature! Rains, winds and thunder-storms day and night during the monsoon!
At night in bed, I wondered what it was all about, why nature behaved this way? Outside, fireflies glittered! Owls hooted! Foxes came from the hills into the hen-coops and escaped with the quarry! These were very interesting subjects to paint for a young artist. Today, after several decades of painting, I don't need subjects: my painting contains that subject. Art is not what you think it is but what the artist thinks it is. Art has advanced that far today!" The observer becomes a captive of aesthetics and not of the subject. Subject matter is for illustration, not fine art. Subject matter is for the naive who need stories, not for people with taste who can read art! A man of taste does not need the emperor's clothes!"
(Francis Newton Souza on GOA, The Illustrated Weekly of India, 14-20 September 1991)

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