Francis Newton Souza

Christie's London, 15 October 2004, lot 541

Slight foxing on the left edges and upper right corner of the paper. There is a minor tear in the upper left edge and creasing in the upper left quadrant. This work is in good condition overall, as viewed.
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Born in Goa into a devout Catholic family, Francis Newton Souza frequently explored sexuality, religious orthodoxy, capitalism and his own sense of psychological displacement within his works. In the 1940s, he attended the Sir J.J. School of Art until he was expelled for participating in the Quit India Movement. Subsequently, he founded the Progressive Artist's Group; an avant-garde community of artists, and organised their first exhibition in 1948, a year after Indian Independence from England. Souza then travelled to London, and it was around this time that he produced Portrait of a Man before Buildings. This drawing shows a series of churches set along a desolate street with a single male figure dominating the foreground. It references Souza’s upbringing where he was made to attend services at Roman Catholic churches in Goa. This reference to his early days in India is juxtaposed with the solitary man who wears a European suit jacket and striped jumper. His wide frame and thick neck support a disproportionate and grotesque head. The heavy shading of the face with scar-like incisions to the chin draw parallels with Souza’s own appearance. He was afflicted with a severe case of smallpox as a child and his mother attributed his survival to her prayers to Saint Francis. Souza was named after him as a sign of her gratitude. The illness was to have a lasting impact on Souza’s self-image; “smallpox ruined my looks […] it waylaid me with its course all over my face and body.” (Diary entry from ‘My Dharma has been thus’ cited in George Melly, F. N. Souza: Religion & Erotica, London, 2005, note 1, p. 12.)

This drawing relates closely to the fourth gentleman depicted in Souza's series of sketches entitled 'Six Gentleman of Our Times' illustrated in Words and Lines. In the same publication, Souza's story of 'My Friend and I' is accompanied by a drawing of Souza alongside his friend Mr. Evans, with a similar backdrop of rows of houses and churches. (F. N. Souza, Words & Lines, London, 1959, p. 22).