Francis Newton Souza
About
Acclaimed Indian Artist Francis Newton Souza is widely known as F. N. Souza across the globe. He had a unique style of disconcerting several influential canvases through a very sharp style of portraying stimulating drawings.
Souza's had an expressionistic style through which he strived to exemplify both low-life and high dynamism. While some of his paintings depicted an unsavory side of existence, the others on the contrary showed a sweltering monotone. This pox-scarred boy from Goa grew up to become a celebrated Indian artist whowas notable in the galleries of Europe.
Francis Newton Souza was born in the year 1924 in the village of Saligao, Goa to Roman Catholic parents. He went through a hard-hitting time during his childhood. When he was just three months old, he lost his father.
F. N. Souza was afflicted by a severe bout of small-pox; he vowed to live his life in his own way. The modern artist Francis Newton Souza, died at the age of 77.
Education & Work
When he was in college Souza was expelled for drawing graffiti in the washroom in the year 1937 and 1939. Thereafter, he joined Sir JJ School of art in Bombay (now known as Mumbai) in the year 1940, and was expelled in 1945. He founded the progressive art group along with HA Gade, MF Husain, KH Ara, and SK Bakre.
He majorly participated in numerous of Posthumous exhibition, including Rituals and Reasons: Invoking the Sensual in Art', Apprao Galleries, Chennai; 'Ram Kumar and the Bombay Progressives: The Form and the Figure Part II', Aicon Gallery, New York; 'Ideas of the Sublime', presented by Vadehra Art Gallery at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; Panoplism', Nature Morte, New Delhi; Edge of Reason- and beyond, into pure creativity', presented by Indian Art Circle at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; 'The Naked and the Nude: The Body in Indian Modern Art', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi; 'Diva', Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai; Talking Heads', Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi; Iconic Processions', Aicon Gallery, New York; 'Extending the Line', Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi; Gallery Collection', Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi; 'Migrations', Tate Britain, London; F.N.Souza: Landscapes, Heads and Nudes', Grosvenor Gallery, London; 'Contemporary: A Selection of Modern and Contemporary Art', presented by Sakshi Gallery at The Park, Chennai; Through the Ages: South Asian Sculpture and Painting from Antiquity to Modernism', Aicon Gallery, New York; 'Crossings: Time Unfolded, Part 2', Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi; The Body Unbound', Rubin Museum of Art, New York, to name a few.
F N Souza also actively organized solo exhibitions, including 'Francis Newton Souza Rare Works: 1965-2001', Galerie 88, Kolkata; Copeland Fine Art Gallery, Columbus, Ohio,USA; Bose Pacia Modern, New York; Julian Hartnolls Gallery, London; Art Heritage, New Delhi; Souza from the Alkazi Collection', Academy of Fine Arts and Literature New Delhi; 'Souza, 1940s-1990s Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi; Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi; Pun dole Art Gallery, Mumbai, to name a few.
Apart from this he even participated in numerous group exhibition, including National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai; Coups de Coeur, Halles de L’Ile, Geneva; Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi; 'Modern Indian Paintings', Hirschorn Museum & Sculpture Garden Washington D.C; India: Myth and Reality, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford; Contemporary Indian Art, Royal Academy, London; 'Commonwealth Artists of Fame' London; Guggenheim Foundation USA; John Moore's Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool; Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; Bombay Art Society Salon, Mumbai; Burlington House Gallery London; Progressive Artists Group, Mumbai, to name a few.
Awards and Accolades
In 1957, he was honored with John Moores Prize in Liverpool. Francis has bagged the Government scholarship through British Council in 1960. He has been awarded by Guggenheim International Award in New York, in 1967. In 1998, he was awarded by Kalidas Sanman by the Government of Madhya Pradesh, in India.