FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA (1924-2002)

Souza's 1958 study for Nude with Fruit is a revelatory example of the artist's technique in the composition and production of his larger-scale works. Using a classical Renaissance technique of developing cartoons for transfer onto canvas, Souza is able to master proportions with an economy of line. The subject matter serves as a treatise on painting, comprising figure, landscape and still-life in one. With the advent of modern technology, Souza's technique evolved with his use of overhead projectors as documented in the 1960s. This allowed him the immediacy of his original idea through the simultaneous manipulation of miniature and enlargement. (M. Levy, 'F.N. Souza: The Human and the Divine, The Artist at Work: 28' Studio International, April 1964, p. 134-139.)