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Lot Essay
F.N. SOUZA'S BLACK PAINTINGS
A Conversation with Brigita Krasauskaite
What were Souza's motivations for his black on black paintings? Do you think he was influenced by Yves Klein's monochrome paintings or, indeed, monochrome paintings of other artists at the time? Klein was also exhibited at both Gallery One and Iris Clert, the galleries that represented Souza. I do understand that Souza didn't necessarily subscribe to Yves Klein's concept behind his monochromes and his monochromes remained figurative, but surely he was aware of Klein's work visually? Could these paintings have simply been an experiment that he continued with to really push his boundaries and challenge himself?
F.N. Souza was responding to Yves Klein patented Blue to prove that he could create considerably more complex compositions using the non-color Black as his main one. Black isn't primary or secondary on the painter's color wheel and isn't considered as color at all. Instead black appears mixing red, blue, and yellow together or bringing any color to its darkest point. Souza went beyond the rules of painting and broadcast his narratives on canvas in non-color: Black. The primary reward of his Black paintings is the experience of being with them. It requires patience and concentration to connect through the monochrome surface to Souza's nudes, heads, still-lifes, landscapes, and cityscapes; as opposed to walking by a chromatic painting where your eye catches the image and subject matter instantly. The way the multiple colors in a chromatic painting defines edges, allows easy access to the eye that a monochromatic painting initially blocks. Souza challenges the limits of visibility and the sensibility of the viewer, and pushes monochrome to the farthest stage of possibility. The study of black paintings involves a process of contemplation: granting one's vision sufficient time to perceive the shapes and lines engraved in his black paint is equivalent to the assumption of the meditative position. You allow the black surface, which absorbs the light, to absorb your thoughts; so that the light within the painting is transmitted to the inner space of the viewer through the essence of the painting.
Although it has been suggested that Souza was paying homage to Goya's Pinturas Negras with his black on black paintings, do you think that this is true? Had he ever seen Goya's black paintings at the Prado and mentioned their significance?
F.N. Souza would have seen the collection of Goya's Pinturas Negras at the National Gallery in London. Maria Souza never mentioned Goya as an inspiration for Souza's Black period. She did, however, state that Souza was influenced by Picasso's blue period. The black paintings were made between 1954 and 1966.
Could you say something about the use of the color black? Do you think this was reflective of his state of mind, or does it relate to ethnicity, or was it simply to create intensity in the painting? He also used black for his Christ in Crucifixion and other paintings such as Reclining Nude from 1954 where the girl is black.
F.N. Souza did not create his art in a vacuum. He was engaged in racial and political issues wherever he lived. London did not appear to Souza the City of Gold which he imagined was the foundation of the British Empire. On the contrary, things in London were grim, following the end of the Second World War. The Black Christ depicted in the Crucifixion (1959) shocks the viewer into a different perspective on the "white" Christ depicted in western art. His reaction to the Notting Hill race riots (1958) is captured in Negro in Mourning (1957).
In Reclining Nude (1954) black color sculpts the body and transforms it to the cryptic image transmitting the Nude's sexual power embodied in her pose. Black in the above-mentioned pieces has a symbolic meaning; whereas, in the Black Paintings, color pigment turns to stone, and the brush carves lines and forms into the monochromatic surface. Souza's choreography of these elements raises the music of black color to high volume performance.
The artist extends his play with black color through means of technical diversity. Paint is laid on top of the multicolored base, allowing splashes of bright colors to zip throughout the suede-like texture of the black. In some he leaves spots of canvas lightly toned in black wash as a contrast to thick black paste; giving space for a dialogue between paint and canvas.
Brigita Krasauskaite is a Lithuanian artist and curator. She has worked closely with the collection in the artist's estate since in 2002.
A Conversation with Brigita Krasauskaite
What were Souza's motivations for his black on black paintings? Do you think he was influenced by Yves Klein's monochrome paintings or, indeed, monochrome paintings of other artists at the time? Klein was also exhibited at both Gallery One and Iris Clert, the galleries that represented Souza. I do understand that Souza didn't necessarily subscribe to Yves Klein's concept behind his monochromes and his monochromes remained figurative, but surely he was aware of Klein's work visually? Could these paintings have simply been an experiment that he continued with to really push his boundaries and challenge himself?
F.N. Souza was responding to Yves Klein patented Blue to prove that he could create considerably more complex compositions using the non-color Black as his main one. Black isn't primary or secondary on the painter's color wheel and isn't considered as color at all. Instead black appears mixing red, blue, and yellow together or bringing any color to its darkest point. Souza went beyond the rules of painting and broadcast his narratives on canvas in non-color: Black. The primary reward of his Black paintings is the experience of being with them. It requires patience and concentration to connect through the monochrome surface to Souza's nudes, heads, still-lifes, landscapes, and cityscapes; as opposed to walking by a chromatic painting where your eye catches the image and subject matter instantly. The way the multiple colors in a chromatic painting defines edges, allows easy access to the eye that a monochromatic painting initially blocks. Souza challenges the limits of visibility and the sensibility of the viewer, and pushes monochrome to the farthest stage of possibility. The study of black paintings involves a process of contemplation: granting one's vision sufficient time to perceive the shapes and lines engraved in his black paint is equivalent to the assumption of the meditative position. You allow the black surface, which absorbs the light, to absorb your thoughts; so that the light within the painting is transmitted to the inner space of the viewer through the essence of the painting.
Although it has been suggested that Souza was paying homage to Goya's Pinturas Negras with his black on black paintings, do you think that this is true? Had he ever seen Goya's black paintings at the Prado and mentioned their significance?
F.N. Souza would have seen the collection of Goya's Pinturas Negras at the National Gallery in London. Maria Souza never mentioned Goya as an inspiration for Souza's Black period. She did, however, state that Souza was influenced by Picasso's blue period. The black paintings were made between 1954 and 1966.
Could you say something about the use of the color black? Do you think this was reflective of his state of mind, or does it relate to ethnicity, or was it simply to create intensity in the painting? He also used black for his Christ in Crucifixion and other paintings such as Reclining Nude from 1954 where the girl is black.
F.N. Souza did not create his art in a vacuum. He was engaged in racial and political issues wherever he lived. London did not appear to Souza the City of Gold which he imagined was the foundation of the British Empire. On the contrary, things in London were grim, following the end of the Second World War. The Black Christ depicted in the Crucifixion (1959) shocks the viewer into a different perspective on the "white" Christ depicted in western art. His reaction to the Notting Hill race riots (1958) is captured in Negro in Mourning (1957).
In Reclining Nude (1954) black color sculpts the body and transforms it to the cryptic image transmitting the Nude's sexual power embodied in her pose. Black in the above-mentioned pieces has a symbolic meaning; whereas, in the Black Paintings, color pigment turns to stone, and the brush carves lines and forms into the monochromatic surface. Souza's choreography of these elements raises the music of black color to high volume performance.
The artist extends his play with black color through means of technical diversity. Paint is laid on top of the multicolored base, allowing splashes of bright colors to zip throughout the suede-like texture of the black. In some he leaves spots of canvas lightly toned in black wash as a contrast to thick black paste; giving space for a dialogue between paint and canvas.
Brigita Krasauskaite is a Lithuanian artist and curator. She has worked closely with the collection in the artist's estate since in 2002.