Francis Newton Souza

This painting is in overall good condition, as viewed. There are extremely minor pinhole sized losses in the four corners, and some minor losses in the upper left corner of the work. There is very minor craquelure in small areas and spots of accretion scattered across the work.
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Poetically reminiscing about Goa, the place where Francis Newton Souza was born and brought up, Souza notes, "A beautiful country full of rice fields and palm trees; whitewashed churches with lofty steeples; small houses with imbricated tiles, painted in a variety of colours. Glimpses of the blue sea. Red roads curving over hills and straight across paddy fields. Rich green foliage, mango trees, birds, serpents, frogs, scores of butterflies and a thousand kinds of insects." (F. N. Souza, 'A Fragment of Autobiography', Words & Lines, 1997, New Delhi, p. 9) Goa Landscapeis unusual in Souza's oeuvre for its large size and scale which is an idealised vision of his homeland.

When looking at this current painting, it becomes apparent what captivated Souza about this beautiful place. His childhood impressions had left an indelible mark on his mind and Souza constantly returned to depicting his original homeland and the place of his birth. It is even more poignant because this work was made in 1990, much later in his life, yet he retains the same impulsive energetic quality with which he painted his earlier works. The sky hints at dusk emerging while a cerulean sea can be glimpsed behind verdant trees and a mountain in the background. Brown churches, steeples and buildings are present only in the foreground, as if the natural and artificial aspects of the town are colliding with each other. Souza’s signature cubist style is evident in this painting along with his radical take on form and colour.