Francis Newton (F N) Souza India's most important and famous modern artist, Francis Newton Souza, was born on April 12, 1924 in Saligao, Goa. Today would have been his 81st birthday. He was raised by his mother, a dressmaker. Souza was pursuing an art education at the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai before he was expelled in 1942 for taking part in the 'Quit India' freedom movement. He then went on to found the Progressive Artists' Group in 1947 along with fellow artists, Ara, Raza, Husain and others, leading the edge of the Indian modernist art movement. In 1949 he left for London where after a few years of struggle he began to make a mark on the art scene.
In the 1950s, Souza shot to fame with his one-man show at Gallery One in London, which is also when his autobiographical essay, 'Nirvana of a Maggot' was published. - Awarded the John Moore Prize at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool in 1957 - Received the Italian Government Scholarship in 1960 - In 1967 migrated to New York - received the Guggenheim International Award. In 1959 his autobiography, 'Words and Lines' was first published. *** Here are some of the occasions he was invited to exhibit at: - The Institute of Contemporary Arts, London and the Venice Biennale - 1954 - Guggenheim Foundation, New York - 1967 - Minneapolis International Art Festival - 1972 - Commonwealth Artists of Fame, London - 1977 - India: Myth and Reality - Aspects of Modern Indian Art, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford - 1982 - Festival of India, Royal Academy of Art, London - 1982 - Modern Indian Painting, Hirschhorn Museum, Washington D.C. - 1982 - East-West Visual Arts Encounter, Germany (FDR) - 1985 - Exhibition of Chemical Works, LTG Art Gallery, New Delhi - 1995 *** Some Posthumous Exhibits & Auctions: - http://www.kumargallery.com/souza2005/press.htm - http://www.bsgart.com/pages/GalleryNews.html - http://www.shareholder.com/bid/news/20050309-157645.cfm - http://www.asiasociety.org/support/specialevents/edge_desire.html His paintings can be found in the Baroda Museum, Baroda, National Gallery, New Delhi, Tate Gallery, London, Wakefield Gallery, Wakefield, Haifa Museum, Israel, National Gallery, Melbourne. A brief biography and photos can be found @ http://www.srimatilal.com/souza/contact.html Souza passed away in Mumbai on March 28, 2002. *** In his Obituary: F.N. Souza - The Myth, the Fury, and the Silence..., Goanetter, Dom Martin writes: Francis Newton Souza's myth began before he even took the first existential gulp of air. According to him, he was painting murals in his mother's womb. Interestingly enough, this feat was earlier eclipsed by Salvador Dali, who reputedly began the tradition of decorating the maternal cavern. ...he was a gun-toting maverick, gunning down customs and dogmas with his rhetorical brush and pen. At other times, he would transfigure himself into a bulldozer, leveling down friends, relatives, foes and anything else that stood between him and his next landmark. However, unlike Picasso who spent his last years doodling, and Dali, who wound up signing blanks -- Souza in the end was "surrounded" by fakes. Word is hobnobbing around that the workshop for these fakes is situated in Goa! In retrospect, whoever Souza was and whatever he became, one will continue to hear his footsteps in the corridors of Modern Indian art. Read Dom Martin's entire article that includes sketches by Souza @ http://www.dommartin.cc/Literature/FNSouza%202002.htm *** Ben Antao, a passive Goanetter and founder member of Goa-Goans, first wrote about Souza back in 1963 when he interviewed him for an article for the Navhind Times. His article was titled: Francis Newton Souza : Genius in the field of modern art He then said "......Francis Newton Souza, whom art critics here and abroad have acclaimed a genius in the field of modern art. But there is nothing abstract or three-dimensional in the work of Souza, who is essentially original and individualistic, very much as he is in real life." He goes on to write "Souza is one of the few amiable men I have been privileged to meet. Obviously irritated by the suggestion made at a function that he should recognize his roots and fall back upon them, Souza minced no words when he told me that there was no such thing as having roots in one country." He quotes Souza - "Roots need water from clouds forming over distant seas, and from rivers having sources in different lands," he said and added that one's roots lay where one's home was. On Souza's passing in 2002, Ben reminisces, "I was 27 years old when I wrote that piece. Having reread it today, I feel there are two words in that 1000- word article that need clarification and explanation. The first is the word 'genius' in the headline. The second word that needs clarification is 'amiable'. >From my readings I'd gathered that Souza was a hothead and an egotist. He kept his voice soft and friendly, but his dark eyes were sharp and probing. I sent a copy of the article to Souza at his London address. Souza replied, complimenting me. He ended his letter with this sentence in his carefully formed handwriting, "I am not a megalomaniac by nature, but do you think that an art gallery could be opened in Panjim displaying my paintings and bearing my name?" Read Ben Antao' entire article @ http://www.srimatilal.com/souza/review_antao.html *** Souza's writings: THE TRUE ARTIST - from: THE PARAGRAPH by F. N. Souza, New York City, 2000 The true artist can never be pressured by society; his compelling art shirks- off all pressure except the pressure of Art! I do not understand the purpose of prayer. Praying to whom? God, the Virgin Mary and numerous saints; Hindu gods outnumber all the gods of other faiths! -- The span, from Nature, Gods, to celestial beings... apsaras and avatars galore! The gods and spirits have to be supplicated and praised -- or else! ....Or else what? -- Or else nothing! The futility of prayers, said to nothing, to thin air... It's good if the artist or writer means to make the viewer or reader laugh at his work. It's far better than crying before a work of art. The main purpose of the artist is to produce an elevated response. Then only is the work meaningful, and not a daub. ....Stupidity is the second nature of human beings; they go-about their mundane daily lives by being clever by half! -- Their basic nature is greed and selfishness... even their 'God' is pompous, like they like to be: it is He who says in the Old Testament, "I am holier than thou", obliquely used by humans against the fellow who is overly-pious, but actually expressing their own silly 'one-upmanship'! We know nothing, and science tells us less... All the logic we may apply in order to discern the truth about Nature leaves us bewildered. And the formulas and theories of scientists and philosophers leave us cold!.... I seek Beauty more than knowledge. In fact, knowledge can be ugly. (ENDS) WHAT I SEE - by F.N. Souza, New York city, February 2001 What I see as art (by studying art and Nature over the years) is that Art is Nature and Nature is Thought! Nature is a thinking process which we 'see' as development, growth and evolution. I see Art as Nature. Dante talked of Nature as the Art of God. But to me it's become obvious that God is a creation of Nature in the mind of man, my premise being that Nature is the Sole Principle, the principle of Life itself! ...The Universe (Nature) is a living entity, beginningless and endless, and all life, living creatures, etcetra, live off it! There's no reason why seas, mountains, stars, suns and planets are not parts of living structures, living for aeons of time, too vast for human comprehension to accomodate. This amounts to Art being a prompting of Nature. ...Beauty is Nature's creation; colours are a wonder; Light, which contains colours, is a miracle; chiaroscuro, caused by shadow and reflected light, causes objects to become manifest; and so on - the wonder of it all! The best I can say about Art is that man would die of boredom without it. Science, I must point out, is a human concept. It is not the monopoly of the scientific community. *** Some of Souza's paintings can be found at: http://www.fnsouza.com put together by his curator Srimati Lal http://fnsouza.info/paintings/paintings_thumbnails.html http://fnsouza.info/chemicals/chemicals_thumbnails.html http://www.scolarfineart.com/pages/thumbnails/40186.html http://www.vadehraart.com/f_n_souza.htm http://www.glenbarra.com/fn/ *** Additional Sources: http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/leisure/art/fn-souza.html http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/arts/story/0,9848,738977,00.html E & O are incidental not intentional!
