Akara Art

FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA

Akara Modern

1924 -2002

One of the best-known Indian artists, Francis Newton Souza was one of the founding members, alongside S. H. Raza, M. F. Husain and K. H. Ara, of the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group, which was formed in 1947. Souza was born in Goa but moved to Mumbai with his family in 1929. He studied at the Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, but was expelled in 1942 for his participation in the Quit India Movement.

He moved to London in 1949, where after an initial period of struggle, he quickly garnered success as an artist, becoming the first Post-Independence Indian artist to achieve high recognition internationally.

Souza’s style cannot be easily characterized - it is a distinct example of a study in contradictions. His paintings are an absorption of Western visual stimuli from schools such as the Renaissance and Expressionism, as well as folk art from Goa. Souza’s subjects varied from landscapes, nudes, and still life to Christian iconography. However, one principle that constituted the crux of his work was his ability to stimulate conflicts in the viewer. One can be both moved and repelled by his paintings. His influences and experiences of the world that he lived in are what found their way into his works. Thus, they can simultaneously be full of darkness, melancholy, and aggression but also eroticism, sensuality, and humour.

Souza’s works have been exhibited at several successful exhibitions across the world, including at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford; the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Gallery Creuze, Paris; Bose Pacia Modern, New York; Grosvenor Gallery, London, and Akara Art, Mumbai. In 1967, Souza moved to New York where received the Guggenheim International Award. Of particular note is the dedicated section of his works at the Tate Modern, London- making Souza one of India’s most renowned artists.