Osian's Auction Catalogue Indian Antiquities and Modern and Contemporary Fine Arts | June 2015

Francis Newton Souza 12 April 1924 – 28 March 2002 Untitled Ink on paper pasted on paper, 1954 S/d in English ‘Souza 54’ t.l. 11.5 x 9.0 in (29.2 x 22.8 cm) Provenance Private Collector, Mumbai; formerly from the Collection of Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi ` 300,000 – 450,000 US$ 5,000 – 7,500 GBP 3,000 – 4,500 “His own innate hostility towards sex, however, indicated a deepfounded belief in the Original Sin. He was aware of eroticism as a mean of attaining a deep religious ecstasy as practiced in India since ancient times, and of the inexorable lovely mithuna figures of Indian art, particularly Khajuraho (fig. 51), of which he notes, ‘…those mightly temples and pillars and many a carved figures of girls wearing nothing but smiles more enigmatic than even Mona Lisa could manage.’ A fact that is not often noticed in that Souza’s sexual couples are often ritualistic, stripped of all incidental details, enacting an ancient act.Yet, his inventiveness lay in sometimes achieving a fine balance between ritual sensuality and the assertion of the personality of the figure.” – Yashodahara Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001), 92. ARTWORKS BY FOUR MEMBERS OF THE PROGRESSIVE ARTIST’S GROUP: SOUZA, ARA, BAKRE & HUSAIN 40 104