Francis Newton Souza

Acquired from Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai in 1970s

Thence by descent to the present owner

There is craquelure present in areas of thicker paint along with associated losses, commensurate with the age and medium. Light wear is noticeable around the edges. The colour of the painting is much brighter and more vibrant than in the printed catalogue.
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Like the artists of the School of Paris, Souza’s work consists of portraiture, still-lifes, and landscapes. During his time in London, Souza travelled frequently to Europe where he was influenced by the architecture he observed there. Many of the landscapes in Souza’s oeuvre depict urban scenes which also evolved with the passage of time, from the simple straight lines that one observes in his paintings from the 1950s to the askew, tightly bunched together buildings that he depicts in his work from the 1960s onwards. Yoshodhara Dalmia observes, ‘Souza’s landscapes seem to be driven by a cataclysmic force, which wreaks havoc. Most of these cityscapes following, at first a rectilinear structure, which later, in the 1960s, gives way to an apocalyptic vision. The tumbling houses in their frenzied movement are so symbolic of all things falling apart, of the very root of things being shaken, of a world of the holocaust and thalidomide babies.’ (Y. Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New Delhi, 2001, p. 93)

The Old Town Clock, although painted after he had moved to New York, brings into focus Souza’s mastery with linear and geometric conformation. Gone were the bucolic scenes he painted in his earlier works, ushering in a new era of landscapes that captured the essence of his surroundings with complex mastery and colouration. With as much expression and radicalisation as his portraits, this architectonic horizon of the buildings is painted tightly against each other in a staunchly cubist manner, Souza exploits every available inch of the canvas to construct his cityscape, and compress the perspective.