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Lot Essay
The nude female form is one of Souza's more enduring themes. Until the early 1960's, Souza's representation of women was sensual and tender, lacking the distortions of later works.
"The bare-breasted, unashamedly sexual women made by Souza are by now well-known. Yet with each encounter we are faced afresh with their voluptuous sexuality. A fact often overlooked is the tenderness, bordering on a caress with which the feminine contours are drawn." (Y. Dalmia, The Demonic Line, Delhi Art Gallery, Exhibition Catalogue, New Delhi, 2001, p. 6.)
"My paintings are not a product of love or anger. My painting is a product of my libido. I am not making the error of confusing the reality of women, the beauty, with painted representation of women. When I'm painting, I am painting a picture - I am not confusing that with taking her to bed. " (F.N. Souza, Souza 1940s - 1990s, Dhoomi Mal Gallery, Exhibition Catalogue, New Delhi.)
The artist rejects the often levied accusation that his females are depicted in aggressive stances: "No artist goes knocking down things, he is interested in one thing, and that is aesthetics, the science of beauty. And my whole life has been the quest for beauty... Beauty is not in the eyes of the beholder, but in the cultivated eye." (F.N. Souza in conversation with N. Tuli, The Flamed-Mosaic: Indian Contemporary Painting, Ahmedabad, 1997, p. 391.)
"The bare-breasted, unashamedly sexual women made by Souza are by now well-known. Yet with each encounter we are faced afresh with their voluptuous sexuality. A fact often overlooked is the tenderness, bordering on a caress with which the feminine contours are drawn." (Y. Dalmia, The Demonic Line, Delhi Art Gallery, Exhibition Catalogue, New Delhi, 2001, p. 6.)
"My paintings are not a product of love or anger. My painting is a product of my libido. I am not making the error of confusing the reality of women, the beauty, with painted representation of women. When I'm painting, I am painting a picture - I am not confusing that with taking her to bed. " (F.N. Souza, Souza 1940s - 1990s, Dhoomi Mal Gallery, Exhibition Catalogue, New Delhi.)
The artist rejects the often levied accusation that his females are depicted in aggressive stances: "No artist goes knocking down things, he is interested in one thing, and that is aesthetics, the science of beauty. And my whole life has been the quest for beauty... Beauty is not in the eyes of the beholder, but in the cultivated eye." (F.N. Souza in conversation with N. Tuli, The Flamed-Mosaic: Indian Contemporary Painting, Ahmedabad, 1997, p. 391.)