Francis Newton Souza
Oedipus Rex, 1961
Oil on canvas
68.6 x 105 cm
27 x 41 3/8 in
27 x 41 3/8 in
Signed, dated and inscribed 'F. N. SOUZA/ OEDIPUS REX/ 1961' on reverse and further inscribed 'Oedipus Rex' on a Gallery One label on reverse
Further images
Oedipus, the legendary figure from the play by Sophocles is a complex character who is abandoned by his mother at childbirth but survives neither knowing his parents nor his royal...
Oedipus, the legendary figure from the play by Sophocles is a complex character who is abandoned by his mother at childbirth but survives neither knowing his parents nor his royal birth. As a young man he is made King of Thebes in gratitude for his freeing the people from the pestilence. He marries the recently widowed Queen only to find out too late that she is his long-lost mother and that the man he had killed some years earlier was in fact his own father. On realizing this dreadful truth, he pokes out his own eyes and exiles himself from his own Kingdom. The current work depicts Oedipus with bandaged eyes and mutant hands raised in front of him to feel his way.
Portraits of kings, emperors or politicians were some of Souza's most favored subjects but his depiction of them is often less than flattering and fitted with his highly critical view of persons in power. The current work however appears more sympathetic towards the tragic king and it is clear even from his writing that Souza identifies in some ways with the character, stating, 'I've always had a curious feeling of an ancient guilt that I killed my Father becasue he died so suddenly after my birth. My Mother too was like the mother of Oedipus; spartan in shape. She was temperamentally unpredictable and very sophisticated. I used to watch her bathe herself through a hole I had bored in the door. I was afraid that if she thrust something in, I might get a bleeding eye-ball. I drew her on the walls and prudes thought I was rude. I can't see why because as far as I can recollect I had even painted murals on the walls of her womb...In the act of being created I created.' (F. N. Souza, Words and Lines, London, 1997, p. 25).
Portraits of kings, emperors or politicians were some of Souza's most favored subjects but his depiction of them is often less than flattering and fitted with his highly critical view of persons in power. The current work however appears more sympathetic towards the tragic king and it is clear even from his writing that Souza identifies in some ways with the character, stating, 'I've always had a curious feeling of an ancient guilt that I killed my Father becasue he died so suddenly after my birth. My Mother too was like the mother of Oedipus; spartan in shape. She was temperamentally unpredictable and very sophisticated. I used to watch her bathe herself through a hole I had bored in the door. I was afraid that if she thrust something in, I might get a bleeding eye-ball. I drew her on the walls and prudes thought I was rude. I can't see why because as far as I can recollect I had even painted murals on the walls of her womb...In the act of being created I created.' (F. N. Souza, Words and Lines, London, 1997, p. 25).
Provenance
Gallery One, London;Collection of the Artist;
Private UK collection
Exhibitions
Gallery One, London, F N Souza, 1961, pg. 9 (illustrated in b&w)The Stone Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne, F N Souza, 1962, No. 21 (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue in b&w), priced at £500
Literature
E. Mullins, Souza, London, 1962, pg. 96 (illustrated in colour)A. Kurtha, Francis Newton Souza: Bridging Western and Indian Modern Art, Ahmedabad, 2006, pg. 84 (illustrated in colour)