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拍品專文
Goan-born, Francis Newton Souza has become one of the most venerated Indian artists of the 20th century. Believing the works of previous Indian artists to be overly sentimental, Souza looked to Western Modernism for inspiration on how to radicalize the South Asian art world, founding the legendary Bombay Progressives artist group in 1947.
A master draughtsman, Souza's explorations in landscape painting are well documented and his works successfully navigate a wide range of locales from the most crowded urban environments to sublime depictions of nature. His earlier works, which mixed elements of Catholic imagery with the heavy black lines of George Rouault and tumultuous brush strokes of Chaim Soutine, gave way to crisp compositions and collapsed depth of field later in his career.
Francis Newton Souza demonstrates the inherent tension between nature and civilization in this early landscape from 1958. Entitled Monsoon, this work portrays a meteorological event which plays a crucial role in Indian life from mid June to September. Souza expertly uses line to highlight this clash between the natural and the manmade, juxtaposing a vertically oriented city with strong conflicting diagonals seen in both the trees and tempest. The artist's bold use of outline and faceted buildings conjure images of stained glass windows, informed by his Catholic upbringing.
A master draughtsman, Souza's explorations in landscape painting are well documented and his works successfully navigate a wide range of locales from the most crowded urban environments to sublime depictions of nature. His earlier works, which mixed elements of Catholic imagery with the heavy black lines of George Rouault and tumultuous brush strokes of Chaim Soutine, gave way to crisp compositions and collapsed depth of field later in his career.
Francis Newton Souza demonstrates the inherent tension between nature and civilization in this early landscape from 1958. Entitled Monsoon, this work portrays a meteorological event which plays a crucial role in Indian life from mid June to September. Souza expertly uses line to highlight this clash between the natural and the manmade, juxtaposing a vertically oriented city with strong conflicting diagonals seen in both the trees and tempest. The artist's bold use of outline and faceted buildings conjure images of stained glass windows, informed by his Catholic upbringing.