Francis Newton Souza

We authenticate, certify, issue certificates of authenticity (COA), appraise the value and broker the sale of paintings, drawings, and prints by Francis Newton SOUZA.

Indian

Born in 1924, Goa, Portuguese India.

Died in 2002, Mumbai, India, aged 77.

He spent most of his life in India.

Typical subject matter:

He is as much renowned for his numerous abstract works as for figurative ones, the themes of which include realistic figurative scenes as much as allegorical ones, as well as landscapes that tend towards abstraction. He also depicts nudes – allegorical or not, sometimes maternal, and sometimes erotic – portraits, genre scenes - scenes from everyday life and still lifes.

Typical style:

He is renowned as the founder of the Progressive Artist’s group of Bombay, founded in 1947. His paintings combine a strong traditional inspiration with a Western style, acquired through observation during his travels. He used dark tones, especially of reds and oranges, and the environments depicted in his paintings are austere looking, sometimes partly covered by very rapid and wide, almost violent brushstrokes. His paint is applied in layers, with great materiality and texture quality. He was not looking for a realistic rendering. As such, his forms, including architectural ones are simplified, the human figure is depicted in a geometric way, and expressionist vocabulary is prominent. His compositions do not respect the rules of depth of field or proportion, and are riddled with diagonals, sharp angles and straight, black lines.

Typical material and media:

He mostly worked in oil or acrylic on canvas or cardboard. For his drawings he used graphite, charcoal, watercolour, and gouache. For his prints he used monotype, lithography, and etching.

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