Head

Remaining within the boundaries of figurative art, Francis Newton Souza carried out bold experiments in his oeuvre throughout his career. A head study, therefore, despite being one of his leitmotifs, evolved with each passing decade. The acrylic work in consideration here, titled Head, is not as emotively brutal as most of his head studies from the late 1950s or ’60s but comes with the same energetic brushstrokes that defined his other well-known and similar works. The chief characteristic of this work is the element of distortion, which, though pared down compared to other signature Souza works, is just as potent.