Untitled (Seated Nude on Blue Armchair)

This overwhelming painting by F. N. Souza, the founder of the Progressive Artists’ Group, is one of the most extraordinary nudes of his career. Everything from the size of the painting to its nature claim the viewer’s attention, rendering it potent with Souza’s inherent vitality and vigour. Belonging to a period when he was at the peak of his practice, the 1962 nude is distorted but not deformed, her seated posture and primly crossed legs marking it out as one of the most desirable of his paintings from this genre. The striking subject, the controlled palette and Souza’s familiar brushstrokes claim the viewer’s attention.