Panaji: Eight works by Francis Newton Souza will go under the hammer at the upcoming AstaGuru Collectors Choice Auction on June 22 and 23. In this auction, the 1994 oil on canvas is the highest-valued work in the exhibition valued at Rs 1.5–2.5 crore. It features a dramatic urban landscape with angular buildings, a tree and an intense sky, combines architectural structure with emotional tension.Titled ‘The Architecture of Memory: A Different View of FN Souza,’ the works—lots 6, 10, 14, 21, 25, 44 and 70— trace the evolution of Souza’s fascination with roads, houses, cityscapes and built environments from the 1950s through the 1990s as Souza frequently drew upon visual recollections from his upbringing and childhood in Goa, transforming roads, churches, houses and cityscapes into artistic environments.“These works illuminate a critical yet often overlooked dimension of Souza’s practice, in which architecture functions not as topographical description but as a site of psychological projection and formal experimentation,” said Sunny Chandiramani, director, client relations, AstaGuru Auction House.The untitled (1996), acrylic on paper, estimated between Rs 20–30 lakh is a vibrant landscape built from sweeping blues, greens, yellows and black linear structures. The painting has a spontaneous energy typical of Souza’s late period, when he often reduced forms to expressive signs and architectural fragments.The untitled (1957), ink on paper, estimated between Rs 5–7 lakh is a highly expressive drawing of trees or vegetation, created almost entirely through energetic line work.Dancers (1949), watercolour on paper, depicts a stylised female dancer rendered in brilliant oranges, yellows and greens with bold black outlines. It recalls folk, tribal and modernist influences that shaped Souza’s early career.Untitled (1987), Pencil on paper, estimated between Rs 10–15 lakh is another refined drawing showcasing Souza’s line work and imagination. Untitled (Still Life), 1992 estimated between Rs 30–40 lakh is a colourful arrangement of fruit and vessels executed with rich impasto and bold colour.Untitled (landscape), acrylic on paper, pasted on board estimated between Rs 16–20 lakh is a lively architectural landscape with energetic colours and simplified forms and a good example of Souza’s late experimentation with urban themes.Lastly, untitled (1996), acrylic on paper, estimated between Rs 20–25 lakh, is another landscape on paper, but more atmospheric and expansive, with greater emphasis on sky and mood.“Spanning several decades, they reveal the artist’s sustained engagement with the built environment as a means of negotiating questions of displacement, faith and modernity. International auction results have increasingly affirmed the significance of this body of work, with architectural and landscape compositions consistently ranking among the most sought-after and highly valued examples of Souza’s oeuvre. The present lots offer a rare opportunity to reassess the artist’s architectural imagination as a vital component of his contribution to post-Independence Indian modernism,” Chandiramani said.
