Osian's Auction Catalogue Masterpieces and Museum-Quality III | March 2004

119 MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY III 53 FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA (1924-2002 / b. Saligao, Goa) Untitled S/d in English c.l. Oil on canvas, 1965 111.8 x 81.9 cm (44 x 32.2 in) Minor preservation work has been carried out by Kayan Marshall Pundole in Mumbai, February 2004. Rs. 1,500,000 – 1,750,000 US$ 33,350 – 38,900 GB£ 18,300 – 21,350 OSIANs S.I.R. ANALYSIS [1992–2003] Present Estimate 1,058.72 Previous Highs 2,235.33 [So.Lon/17.06.99] 2,013.70 [Sa.com/04.12.03] Average: 2003* 1273.6 [For works on canvas dated between 1950-70s sold during 2003] Previous Average 364.98 [All works, sold between 1992–2003] Auction Average 289.84 “ It is obvious that he is a superb designer and excellent draughtsman. But I find it quite impossible to assess his work comparatively because he straddles several traditions but serves none. One can, of course, avoid the whole problem of what his work means by explaining its entire appeal in formal terms. His use of engraved lines, graffito-like, to enrich the surface of his paint, his sense of pattern tending towards the effect of dark brocaded silks, his method of modelling a figure solid by apparently burnishing the pigment and its tones until the result is reminiscent of a smooth, very simplified but full bronze statue, his occasional use of acid colour, quick and aerial as small flames, his awareness of the weight of the human body-belly keeping it to the ground: all this contributes to the impact of his work.” (John Berger [c.1965], rpt. in New Paintings & Drawings by Francis Newton Souza EXC . Dhoomi Mal Gallery 1976.)