In London since 1949, Francis Newton Souza draws and paints grotesque portraits. While Bacon is inspired by Velazquez, Souza sees Titian. An oil on canvas 122 x 104 cm painted in 1955 entitled Titian's grandfather was sold for Rs 2.25 crore including premium by Saffronart on December 6, 2007.
In the same year, the most important work by Souza is titled Birth. This oil on panel 122 x 244 cm is estimated $ 2.2M, for sale by Christie's in New York on September 17, lot 709.
The anti-religious concern of the artist at that time enables to interpret this scene as a pastiche of the Christian Nativity. The atmosphere of the apartment is dark like a barn but the urban landscape of Hampstead where Souza then tried to live is visible through a structure resembling the stained glass windows of a church.
The pregnant woman is nude. Her hemispherical belly is close to the explosion. The bearded man in liturgical garments on the left of the image does not care for her. She is not appealing. He is the image of sin, or perhaps a self-portrait. The focal point of Souza against the Christian religion is the hypocrisy of redemption. The texture of the naked body is a cracked indecipherable graffiti which adds to the abjection of the scene, anticipating Twombly.
Critics see Manet's Olympia as a model for this woman by Souza. I would instead be tempted to recognize the Venus of Urbino, a symbol of fertility and thus indirectly of sin painted by Titian, one of the top Christian artists.
In the same year, the most important work by Souza is titled Birth. This oil on panel 122 x 244 cm is estimated $ 2.2M, for sale by Christie's in New York on September 17, lot 709.
The anti-religious concern of the artist at that time enables to interpret this scene as a pastiche of the Christian Nativity. The atmosphere of the apartment is dark like a barn but the urban landscape of Hampstead where Souza then tried to live is visible through a structure resembling the stained glass windows of a church.
The pregnant woman is nude. Her hemispherical belly is close to the explosion. The bearded man in liturgical garments on the left of the image does not care for her. She is not appealing. He is the image of sin, or perhaps a self-portrait. The focal point of Souza against the Christian religion is the hypocrisy of redemption. The texture of the naked body is a cracked indecipherable graffiti which adds to the abjection of the scene, anticipating Twombly.
Critics see Manet's Olympia as a model for this woman by Souza. I would instead be tempted to recognize the Venus of Urbino, a symbol of fertility and thus indirectly of sin painted by Titian, one of the top Christian artists.
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