Francis Newton Souza (1924-2002)

Canvas slightly loose at the four corners. Would benefit from restretching. Overall good condition. Colours are brighter than the catalogue illustration.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Oedipus, the legendary figure from the play by Sophocles is a complex character who is abandoned by his mother at childbirth but  survives neither knowing his parents nor his royal birth. As a young man he is made King of Thebes in gratitude for his freeing the people from the pestilence.  He marries the recently widowed Queen only to find out  too late that she is his long-lost mother and that the man he had killed some years earlier was in fact his own father.  On realizing this dreadful truth, he pokes out his own eyes and exiles himself from his own Kingdom. The current work depicts Oedipus with bandaged eyes and mutant hands raised in front of him to feel his way. 

Portraits of kings, emperors or politicians were some of Souza's most favored subjects but his depiction of them is often less than flattering and fitted with his highly critical view of persons in power.  The current work however appears more sympathetic towards the tragic king and it is clear even from his writing that Souza identifies in some ways with the character, stating, 'I've always had a curious feeling of an ancient guilt that I killed my Father becasue he died so suddenly after my birth. My Mother too was like the mother of Oedipus; spartan in shape.  She was temperamentally unpredictable and very sophisticated.  I used to watch her bathe herself through a hole I had bored in the door.  I was afraid that if she thrust something in, I might get a bleeding eye-ball.  I drew her on the walls and prudes thought I was rude.  I can't see why because as far as I can recollect I had even painted murals on the walls of her womb...In the act of being created I created.' (F. N. Souza, Words and Lines, London, 1997, p. 25).