| Medium | : | Chemical Alteration, Mixed Media |
|---|---|---|
| Surface | : | Paper |
| Height | : | 17 inch / 43.2 cm |
| Width | : | 14 inch / 35.6 cm |
| Style | : | Figurative Paintings |
| Dimension | : | W: 35.6 cm × H: 43.2 cm |
| Year | : | 1986 |
A powerful portrait by F.N. Souza, Head (1986) captures the artist’s iconic style through bold black lines, exaggerated features, and expressive simplicity. Combining mixed media with chemical alteration, the work transforms the human face into a deeply psychological and timeless image, rich with intensity and character.
F.N. Souza | Head | Mixed Media & Chemical Alteration | 17 x 14 inches | 1986
Created in 1986, this striking work by F.N. Souza exemplifies the artist’s fearless approach to portraiture and his ability to distill the human form into its most essential and expressive elements. Executed in mixed media with chemical alteration, the composition presents a boldly rendered head outlined with sweeping black lines that command immediate attention.
The face is stripped of conventional realism and reconstructed through Souza’s signature visual language—exaggerated eyes, angular features, and fluid contours that convey both psychological intensity and raw humanity. The oversized eyes seem to confront the viewer directly, while the simplified structure of the face creates a compelling tension between vulnerability and strength.
Subtle layers and chemical interventions within the surface add depth and texture, allowing the work to feel both spontaneous and carefully considered. The restrained palette enhances the power of the line, drawing focus to the emotional resonance of the portrait rather than its physical likeness. As with many of Souza’s heads and figures, the work transcends individual identity, becoming an exploration of the human condition itself.
Bold, introspective, and unmistakably modern, this artwork reflects Souza’s enduring legacy as one of the most influential figures in modern Indian art, offering collectors a powerful example of his distinctive artistic vision.
Francis Newton Souza, born on 12 April 1924, was expelled from school, then from his college — Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay — and later, as he insisted on saying, from his own country.
Born in Goa, Souza’s Catholic mother brought him up to be a priest, but he showed early signs of rebellion that would become an integral part of his life. While studying in Bombay, he joined the Communist Party but soon left it. He even abandoned the Progressive Artists’ Group, of which he was the founder member and spokesperson, to pursue a career in Europe. He would shift continents — living and tasting success in London in the 1950s and ’60s — before settling in New York.
Souza found his own blunt, extreme style by combining the expressionism of Rouault and Soutine with the spirit of cubism and the sculptures of classical Indian tradition. He combined fierce lines with cruel humour. Nudes, landscapes, and portraits — he painted in every style and in every medium, even inventing ‘chemical alterations’, a method of drawing with the use of chemical solvent on a printed page without destroying the glossy surface. This helped him to experiment with the layering of multiple imagery.
Widely exhibited and feted around the world, Souza’s pugnacious nature and work failed to win him recognition in the country of his birth, where he was noted but never rewarded. In the later years, he started spending more time visiting India, and passed away in Mumbai on 28 March 2002.
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