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Lot Essay
Francis Newton Souza’s “[…] depiction of blatantly nude women was something of an act of defiance against the forbidden act. But as always, impacted on this was the mature realisation of the prudish hypocrisy of society that repressed its own undercurrents of smut and corruption. In many ways his women baring their thighs or sitting nude astride a chair, were in open defiance of the hypocritical mores of society. At all times, even at their demonic best, his women were monumental” (Y. Dalmia, Souza in London, New Delhi, 2004, p. 12).
Like the Tahitian nudes of Paul Gauguin, Souza’s instantly recognizable female nudes from the late 1950s possess both a strong sexual aura and a sense of the primitive, the other and the unfamiliar. Combining Georges Rouault’s thick black lines with a semi-cubist structure, the artist gives these figures a sculptural quality that calls to mind the early 20th-century work of Pablo Picasso, epitomized in his 1907 painting Demoiselles d'Avignon. Souza combines these Western inspirations with antecedents from African art and Indian classical stone sculpture.
In the first monograph on Souza, published in 1962, his biographer Edwin Mullins discusses the significance of the female nude in the artist’s practice, noting that the women “[...] clearly have their origins in Indian stone carvings and bronzes. Yet in spirit they are not traditional [...] On the whole his paintings of nudes are more gentle than most of his other work; they have less impassioned ferocity about them. At the same time they are often perverse and obsessed. The inelegant sexual poses, the blunt emphasis on the pregnant belly, the ravaged face. They suggest a personal fascination with the female body, blended with an almost Swiftian disgust with its natural functions” (E. Mullins, Souza, London, 1962, p. 43).
The present lot, painted in 1957 and titled Girl in a Dressing-Gown, is an eroticized yet intimate scene, likely a depiction of Souza’s partner at the time, Liselotte de Kristian. The artist captures the subject in a playful state of semi-undress. She wears a white dressing gown, fastened loosely at the midriff and immodestly pulled back below her waist to reveal her nakedness. With its close crop of the figure, this portrait evokes a spirited familiarity, as if Souza has frozen in paint a moment of romantic exhibitionism between lovers.
Unlike other works from the period, such as Girl in a Cardigan, in this painting Souza’s subject does not fold her arms across her chest in a show of modesty. Instead, they confidently hold her robe open, unabashedly revealing her own sexuality. Interestingly, Souza portrays her skin using warm, pinkish tones, suggesting perhaps that his subject is flushed with excitement. Using blue to emphasize the whites of her dressing gown against the dark background, Souza’s frames his subject with his signature thick black outlines. Her auburn hair, with blond highlights, hangs loose around her shoulders. Only her face stands in uncomfortable juxtaposition to the personal intimacy of the rest of the composition. Souza portrays her with stylized, mask-like facial features, an angular nose and hollow eyes, in keeping with his most iconic portraits of the period.
Like the Tahitian nudes of Paul Gauguin, Souza’s instantly recognizable female nudes from the late 1950s possess both a strong sexual aura and a sense of the primitive, the other and the unfamiliar. Combining Georges Rouault’s thick black lines with a semi-cubist structure, the artist gives these figures a sculptural quality that calls to mind the early 20th-century work of Pablo Picasso, epitomized in his 1907 painting Demoiselles d'Avignon. Souza combines these Western inspirations with antecedents from African art and Indian classical stone sculpture.
In the first monograph on Souza, published in 1962, his biographer Edwin Mullins discusses the significance of the female nude in the artist’s practice, noting that the women “[...] clearly have their origins in Indian stone carvings and bronzes. Yet in spirit they are not traditional [...] On the whole his paintings of nudes are more gentle than most of his other work; they have less impassioned ferocity about them. At the same time they are often perverse and obsessed. The inelegant sexual poses, the blunt emphasis on the pregnant belly, the ravaged face. They suggest a personal fascination with the female body, blended with an almost Swiftian disgust with its natural functions” (E. Mullins, Souza, London, 1962, p. 43).
The present lot, painted in 1957 and titled Girl in a Dressing-Gown, is an eroticized yet intimate scene, likely a depiction of Souza’s partner at the time, Liselotte de Kristian. The artist captures the subject in a playful state of semi-undress. She wears a white dressing gown, fastened loosely at the midriff and immodestly pulled back below her waist to reveal her nakedness. With its close crop of the figure, this portrait evokes a spirited familiarity, as if Souza has frozen in paint a moment of romantic exhibitionism between lovers.
Unlike other works from the period, such as Girl in a Cardigan, in this painting Souza’s subject does not fold her arms across her chest in a show of modesty. Instead, they confidently hold her robe open, unabashedly revealing her own sexuality. Interestingly, Souza portrays her skin using warm, pinkish tones, suggesting perhaps that his subject is flushed with excitement. Using blue to emphasize the whites of her dressing gown against the dark background, Souza’s frames his subject with his signature thick black outlines. Her auburn hair, with blond highlights, hangs loose around her shoulders. Only her face stands in uncomfortable juxtaposition to the personal intimacy of the rest of the composition. Souza portrays her with stylized, mask-like facial features, an angular nose and hollow eyes, in keeping with his most iconic portraits of the period.