Francis Newton
Souza
"
SOCIETY MUST ADAPT TO THE ARTIST ! " F.N.
Souza
Francis Newton Souza was born in 1924 in Saligao,
Goa, India. Souza was pursuing an art education
at the Sir J.J School of Art 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, 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.
Francis Newton
Souza
In the 1950's 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. He was awarded the
John Moore Prize at the Walker Art Gallery,
Liverpool in 1957 and received the Italian Government
Scholarship in 1960 and in 1959 his autobiography
'Words and Line' was first published. In 1967
he migrated to New York where he received the
Guggenheim International Award
Along with several solo exhibitions
in London he was invited to exhibit at the Institute
of Contemporary Arts, London and the Venice
Biennale-1954; Guggenheim Foundation, New York-1967;
'Commonwealth Artists of Fame', London-1977;
'India : Myth and Reality - Aspects of Modern
Indian Art', Museum of Modern Art, Oxford and
Festival of India, Royal Academy of Art, London-1982;
'Modern Indian Painting', Hirschhorn Museum,
Washington D.C.-1982. Retrospective exhibitions
of his work were organized by Art Heritage Gallery,
Delhi-1986 and 1996. He also participated in
the work-live program in Los Angeles, California
hosted by Saffronart in 2001.
Francis Newton Souza passed away
on Thursday 28th March 2002 in Bombay, India,
of a sudden heart attack
