Francis Newton Souza

Estate of the Artist

Christie's, London, The Art of Souza: Property from the Estate of Francis Newton Souza, 9 June 2010, lot 110

In the mid-1960s, Souza experimented with a highly expressionistic and gestural brushstroke to produce a small body of 'black paintings'. Notable for their textured surfaces, they almost resemble sculptural images in bas relief. From influences as diverse as Francisco de Goya's Pinturas Negras series and Yves Klein's monochromatic paintings and sculptures, the latter of whom worked with Souza's Parisian gallery Iris Clert, the Indian modern master created one of his most sublime series of works. This 'black on black' series culminated in his 1966 solo exhibition at Grosvenor Gallery in London, Souza: Black Art & Other Paintings. The seemingly monochromatic works have a build-up and layering of pigments that create subtle tonality, which while difficult to notice in reproduction, in reality and in variegated lighting conditions, demonstrate Souza's stunning mastery of line along with the emotional brute force with which he approaches his canvases.