Five FN Souza’s bold visions expected to cross Rs 4cr at auction | Goa News
Panaji: Five works by modernist painter Francis Newton Souza will go under the hammer as part of the Masters Legacy online sale organised by AstaGuru Auction House on March 10 and 11. The selection features paintings ranging from psychologically intense nudes and turbulent cityscapes to experimental works on paper and luminous late landscapes. Together, the works are expected to fetch more than Rs 4 crore at the auction.“From psychologically charged nudes and volatile cityscapes to luminous late landscapes and experimental works on paper, the selection reflects an artist constantly reinventing form while remaining steadfast in his exploration of faith, power, sexuality, and the anxieties of modern existence. These works are expected to generate significant interest, continuing the legacy of a Goan visionary who was an immense impact on 20th-century Indian art,” Sunny Chandiramani, director, client relations, AstaGuru Auction House, said.Among the highlights is untitled (Still Life), a vibrant composition in which Souza transforms everyday objects into a charged visual field. Thick black outlines and restless brushwork animate the arrangement, replacing the calm domesticity typical of still life with tension and vitality.Garden City is the priciest, going from Rs 2,00 00,000 onwards. The Untitled nude is at auction from Rs 1,20,00,000 onwards. Garden City presents a striking interpretation of the modern metropolis, as Souza envisions the city as a fractured organism where architecture and nature collide in volatile tension.The auction also features another untitled work, rendered using chemical alteration on paper. The experimental medium gives the work an oxidised, corroded texture, reinforcing the stark imagery of a skeletal cityscape with jagged architectural forms beneath an unsettled sky.From the later phase of his career comes yet another untitled work, a landscape painted in 1994. Here, undulating forms and assertive black contours organise a radiant field of colour reminiscent of stained-glass luminosity.Completing the group is an untitled nude painting dating to 1989. The frontal figure stands against a saturated blue background, rendered with emphatic black contours and earthy reds, stripped of idealised beauty, with the raw physicality and vulnerability of the human body.“The selection reflects an artist constantly reinventing form while remaining steadfast in his exploration of faith, power, sexuality, and the anxieties of modern existence,” Chandiramani told TOI.Born in Goa and later associated with the progressive artists’ group in Mumbai, Souza emerged as one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Indian art. His bold style was marked by aggressive line work and expressive distortions.“Souza remains one of the most uncompromising voices of Indian modernism, and his work continues to resonate with collectors and scholars across the world. The selection reflects the remarkable breadth of Souza’s practice, from psychologically charged figuration to restless cityscapes and expressive landscapes that reveal his lifelong engagement with the complexities of faith, power, and human vulnerability. Each work embodies the artist’s fearless visual language, defined by bold lines, raw emotional intensity, and an unyielding individuality,” Chandiramani said.
