FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA | UNTITLED (SET OF TWO)

Private European Collection (acquired in 1979)

Christie's, New York, 12 September 2012, Lot 367

One of the most important South Asian modernist painters, Francis Newton Souza was an artist for whom art was a sacred rite, surrendering himself and his talent to a ceaseless search for being. Souza’s artistic trajectory was varied in subject matter; from nudes to landscapes and still life paintings, the resolute and almost heavy-handed black outlines and aggressively distorted forms have become distinctive of his stylistic choices.