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I JUST ONLY came across this November 2003 report in the News India-Times (http://www.newsindia-times.com) titled "New York pays tribute to F.N.Souza, 'India's first modern artist'. It had then reported that, "The controversial and iconoclastic painter Francis Newton Souza is to receive a long overdue retrospective in New York with the showing of 'F N Souza -- A Definitive Retrospective' at Gallery ArtsIndia. "New York surely owes a tribute to the man who spent the most years of his life in this city. In his obituary of Souza in *The Guardian* of London of June 17, 2002, Christopher P Wood described him as 'India's first modern artist'," added the report by Jyotirmoy Datta. It went on to add: "Born in Goa in 1924, Souza was brought up by his mother, a dressmaker. In 1929, the family moved to Bombay. Having been expelled from schools in 1937 and 1939, Souza entered the Sir JJ School of Art in Bombay in 1940. He was expelled in 1945. In 1947, he was awarded the first prize in the Bombay art society annual exhibition. He formed -- along with K H Ara, S K Bakre, H A Gade, M F Husain and S H Raza -- the Progressive Artists Group in 1946." By some quirk of fate, I managed to meet up with Souza while he was holidaying in Goa a few months before his death. Given an interest in understanding things Goan, one had been following his trail since the mid-eighties; a letter to him then brought in a booklet he had published. It was a chance email that brought in a telephone acknowledgement and the promise of the interview.... Probably Goa should name a street or some other suitable landmark after her great son, even if he achieved all he did outside of a state that probably wouldn't have given him the opportunity to, had he stayed behind. FN -- --------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa, India f r e d @ b y t e s f o r a l l . o r g Ph 832.2409490 / 832.2409783 Cell 9822 122436 784 Near Lourdes Convent, Sonarbhat, Saligao 403511 Goa ---------------------------------------------------------
